Compendium
by Zwip
Summary: A collection of stories written with the aid of a list of themes. DoumekiWatanuki. [50: “Sooooo!” Yuuko continued, “Who are you saving that first kiss for?” ]
1. Wish

**Fandom:** XXXHOLiC  
**Characters: **Doumeki Shizuka, Watanuki Kimihiro, Kunogi Himawari  
**Theme: **1 - Wish  
**Warnings/Ratings: **Nothing to worry about, totally G.  
**In A Nutshell:** Kunogi Himawari had a wish. **  
Disclaimer: **I don't own xxxHolic because if I did I wouldn't be sitting here, writing fanfictions, would I? Actually, maybe I would.

Kunogi Himawari had a wish. It wasn't something that was constantly on her mind, it was more of a fleeting desire that came into her head sometimes, even if all of these sometimes had something in common. Usually she thought about it at lunch, amidst the nearly one-sided bickering of her two friends. In fact, it was _because_ of her two bickering friends.

She wished… Well, she wasn't actually sure about that. It was more like a series of connected wishes than anything else. She wished that Watanuki would stop yelling at Doumeki or fawning over her long enough to just _listen_. Of course, for this wish to work out as intended, Doumeki would actually have to _say_ something, and even if Doumeki were to say something, he'd have to actually _mean_ it (he always lessened the worth of his words with statements that the both of them knew were entirely empty, even if Watanuki didn't).

So for now she'd have to just watch them with a small, inward sigh. This was a wish that, hopefully, would fulfill itself without her involvement or payment.

* * *

Right. So, hello everyone! I thought I'd put this after the story this time, to be less obtrusive! 

First of all, I'd like to thank anyone who's looking for my stories and reviewing!

Secondly, I'd like to note that I got the themes from clockwork starlight's story, Fate and Fortune. I'm not sure if it's necessary to say that, but I'd like to give the credit where it's due.

Finally, I'd like to say that I'm going to be putting up new chapters in the numerical order of the list (I know, I'm so neurotic), even if I'm not writing them in that order.

That's all for now! Please enjoy these!


	2. Tassel

**Fandom:** XXXHOLiC  
**Characters: **Doumeki Shizuka, Watanuki Kimihiro  
**Theme: **2 - Tassel  
**Warnings/Ratings: **Slight language? Mentions of groping?  
**In A Nutshell:** Watanuki realizes something that, while important, also makes him miserable.  
**Disclaimer: **It's not mine. It never has been, never will be.

Watanuki was hiding behind a freakish curtain and scared for his life. Idly gripping the fabric, it struck him that only _Yuuko_ could ever get him into a situation like this. A situation like this had Watanuki in a garish orange suit, hiding behind a curtain with Doumeki while they waited for something inevitably nefarious to appear. He personally thought that both the orange suit and the curtain were entirely unnecessary. Oh, and Doumeki's entire existence would be, too, if the idiot didn't have to act as some sort of spiritual bodyguard or whatever.

"JUST WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU'RE TOUCHING?"

"It's sort of dark behind this thing. I can't really see."

"THAT'S NOT AN APOLOGY. OR AN EXCUSE."

"It shouldn't be."

Watanuki was seriously contemplating strangling him with one of the ropes tying back the curtain, but they had tassels attached and he was sort of wary of anything in a house Yuuko sent them to, anyway. Especially one where the curtains' ropes had tassels attached to them. Then he conveniently remembered that Doumeki was pretty much the only exorcist readily available within… actually, he didn't want to know how sparse exorcists were these days, just in case he really did end up committing homicide and found himself in need of another one. Watanuki thought that maybe he could bring Kohane-chan around, but… no, that wouldn't work.

Sighing, he came to the conclusion that he was just stuck with Doumeki.

And when that wandering hand made another appearance, Watanuki elbowed the archer in what he hoped was a really vital organ. Just because he was stuck with him didn't mean he couldn't _retaliate_.

* * *

I'm sorry this took so long! 

Tassel was a really difficult one. Because I have a mental roadblock when it comes to tassels that directs me automatically towards curtains. It's not something I can control.

Sorry it's so... weird.

I've pretty much already got the third one finished, so I'll have that up soon for everyone!


	3. Puzzle

**Fandom:** XXXHOLiC  
**Characters: **Doumeki Shizuka, Watanuki Kimihiro, Ichihara Yuuko  
**Theme: **3 - Puzzle  
**Warnings/Ratings: **Nothing.  
**In A Nutshell:** Watanuki is given a puzzling puzzle.  
**Disclaimer: **On my ex-Girl Scout honor, I really don't own xxxHolic.

Yuuko gave it to him before he left work, telling him it was a rare treasure and warning him that if it wasn't returned in perfect condition she'd take even more from his pay for using it, and when Watanuki pointed out that he didn't want to use it in the first place, she said it was less desire and more need and then left him there, clutching the box stupidly.

When he came to work the next day, he asked Yuuko just what the hell was wrong with the puzzle she'd given him.

"Watanuki, that puzzle is life itself. Do you ever look at things and find that a lot of them don't seem to _fit_? Do you often find that people and places and ideas don't often _click_? That, Watanuki, is what the puzzle represents; the way that life will not always make sense when examined closely; the way that when you try to put _being_ into a package it simply doesn't work. But maybe…" Watanuki looked over at her, trying to catch every last word of wisdom. "Maybe you should bring me some sake now!" When she was settled comfortably on her lounge with a bottle of alcohol, she gave him the rest of the day off.

When he got home he called Doumeki and asked him to come over and see if maybe, just maybe, two pieces of this baffling puzzle would fit.

* * *

And I mean that in the least sexual way possible, you perverts. 

I know somebody out there had to be thinking it.

These have all been so short! I've written some long ones, but they're far down the line.

You'll just have to stick around for those.

Oh, by the way, I noticed that there are some people watching me?

Thank you! It's so nice that someone would be so willing to read my work!

The fourth theme-a-mabob will be up soon!


	4. Picture Perfect

**Fandom:** XXXHOLiC  
**Characters: **Doumeki Shizuka, Watanuki Kimihiro, Kunogi Himawari, Ichihara Yuuko  
**Theme: **4 - Picture Perfect  
**Warnings/Ratings: **If you were expecting tons of romance, I guess I'll warn you it's not here.  
**In A Nutshell:** Watanuki reflects on his past, his present, and his future.**  
Disclaimer: **If it were mine, it wouldn't even make sense.

Sometimes, late at night when he couldn't sleep, he would turn on a lamp, drag himself out of bed, and get a book from the bottom of his closet. It was a small thing and there wasn't much in it, but it always was just the thing for putting him to sleep.

There were some stories, written in the graceful strokes of his mother's handwriting or the nearly-illegible scrawl of his father's. Mostly, though, there were photographs. Not many, but enough. Watanuki looked in on his own happiness, feeling very much like a stranger to it. He flipped through the pages, always amazed at how it seemed as if there wasn't a moment they weren't smiling. Sometimes his heart ached with yearning for that all-but-forgotten past, but not so much anymore. When he'd gotten to the end of the book, stared at the last picture for a moment that stretched until it snapped, he'd place it back at the bottom of his closet, turn off the lamp, and flop down onto his bed. He used to curl up into a ball and go straight to sleep, but he doesn't do that so much anymore. Nowadays he lays back and thinks.

He thinks not of his parents, who are invariably dead and gone. He thinks of his friends, Himawari and Doumeki, and yes, even Yuuko, who are alive and with him. He thinks he'd someday like to make a book like his parents', filled with pictures and stories. But this would be overflowing with memories, unlike his parents' scant one. He would include pictures of the not-so-happy times as well, scolding Yuuko for drinking too much or yelling at Doumeki for being, well, Doumeki. He thought that this might not look as purely joyous as the one at the bottom of his closet did, but he would certainly like it better. He thought that maybe, someday in the future, he'd take out _that_ book instead.

With that thought clinging to the fringes of his mind, he would roll over and finally get some rest.

* * *

Right! Uplifting story!

I feel like I'm spamming with my stories.


	5. Silk

**Fandom:** XXXHOLiC  
**Characters: **Doumeki Shizuka, Watanuki Kimihiro  
**Theme: **5 - Silk  
**Warnings/Ratings: **There's nothing really romantic about this either, and sorry, but I sort of have a potty… keyboard? So there is mild cursing. By the way, there is a brand of soy milk called Silk, which isn't really a warning, but it would be difficult to understand why it's under this theme otherwise. And a little bit of capslock spam, because it's Watanuki and how can you have Watanuki without capslock spam?  
**In A Nutshell:** Watanuki finds out a weakness of Doumeki's.**  
****Disclaimer: **Oh come on. I don't own it. You should know this by now.

"What," Watanuki said pointedly, picking up the offending object, "is this?"

Doumeki stared at him blankly for a moment, and then answered. "That," he said, mimicry not really effective due to his indifferent voice, "is soy milk."

"Watanuki's eyes narrowed. "Yes, Doumeki, I am perfectly capable of seeing that this," he shook the innocent carton viciously, and, in Doumeki's opinion, a little unfairly, "is soy milk. However, I do not understand why _this_ soy milk," here he once again rattled it for emphasis, "was in _my_ fridge, as I certainly was not the one who put it there." He irately slammed it onto the counter and Doumeki was surprised it didn't just save itself the trouble of dealing with Watanuki and _explode_.

When he was assured that it was entirely not suicidal, he said, "I put it there." As it was designed to do, this comment roughly shoved Watanuki over the edge.

"I KNOW YOU THAT. WHY DID YOU PUT IT THERE, YOU PRICK?!" He was making such a huge deal about some soy milk that Doumeki had to wonder if he really just wanted to yell at him.

"I'm lactose intolerant," He said finally. Watanuki's mood-meter immediately spun 180 degrees and landed somewhere around, "pure glee." Oh. Shit. Now Doumeki was going to have to deal with the delighted jabs about his "weakness."

"Let's see…" Watanuki began, his eyes simply _gleaming_ with happiness. "Cheese. Lots of cheese. Nachos, maybe. Ice cream for dessert…" In his dairy-fueled wonderland, he didn't notice Doumeki standing up and preparing to leave. He was opening the door when the smaller boy snapped out of his trance and stopped gloating long enough to ask, "Hey, where are you going?"

"Home," the archer replied, his tone about as curt as monotone could get, "so I can properly allow you to fulfill your hitsuzen and be eaten by spirits." He found it to his enjoyment that Watanuki's eyes grew to about three times their usual size and he stopped talking for an entire second.

Then he narrowed his eyes in annoyance. "Fine," he pouted, "No abusive usage of dairy products in lunch. However," he said, picking up the soy milk carton as if it would give him syphilis, "this is going straight into the trash."

"Why?"

"Because soy milk tastes _awful_, you idiot!"

"Give it to me, then." Watanuki complied, nearly pegging his "friend" in the face with the container. Much to his dismay, Doumeki used his super-athlete skills and caught it, so to make up for it, he snapped, "Wait, what are you even doing here in the first place?"

"Yuuko left a message." He crossed the tiny kitchen and put the pseudo-milk into the fridge, explaining, "I don't want it to go bad while we're exorcising stuff."

Watanuki groaned. It was going to be an unbearably long night.

* * *

Sorry I didn't upload this earlier. I've had it written for a while, but I was too busy watching anime all day (because I have no life).

My friend helped me with this story, because I couldn't really think of a way to use silk without perversion because we all know that when there's silk involved, it always leads to perversion.

Hopefully the next one won't take too long to put up.

Sorry for spamming anyone's email boxes with alerts about my story!


	6. Butterfly

**Fandom:** XXXHOLiC  
**Characters: **Doumeki Shizuka, Watanuki Kimihiro  
**Theme: **6 - Butterfly  
**Warnings/Ratings: **Watanuki always says "hell" a lot when I write him. Sorry. Oh, and there's not much very romantic about this, either. I'm sorry! It's coming up soon, though, I promise!  
**In A Nutshell:** This was way better than television.**  
Disclaimer: **Oh come on. I don't own it. You should know this by now.

"Doumeki! Oh my god! What the hell did you do that for?!"

"It was an accident."

"Like hell it was!"

"It was."

"How can something like _that_ be an accident?"

"It just was. Why would I purposefully hit a butterfly with my tennis racket?"

"Because you're spiteful and malicious to all innocent creatures?"

"No I'm not."

"Yes! I am _living proof_ of that statement!"

"What makes you so innocent?"

"…Doumeki, you _bastard_."

"Oi, look, it's fine. It's flying away."

"WHAT THE HELL?! YOU JUST HIT IT AT LIKE TWO HUNDRED KILOMETERS AN HOUR WITH A TENNIS RACKET AND IT JUST _FLEW AWAY_?!"

"Apparently so. And I see the reason you're so horrible at this game now. That was nowhere near two hundred kilometers an hour."

"SHUT UP!"

As her minion landed on her finger and recounted what happened when it went to check on Watanuki for her, Yuuko threw her head back and laughed. This was way better than television.

* * *

The best part?

This is based on a true story.


	7. Wings

**Fandom:** XXXHOLiC  
**Characters: **Watanuki Kimihiro, Tsuyuri Kohane  
**Theme: **7 - Wings  
**Warnings/Ratings: **God, I'm so sorry. There's not even any Doumeki in here. At all. Oh, and Kohane is in the most recent book released in the United States, in case you haven't read it.  
**In A Nutshell:** Maybe someday, with the help of Kimihiro, she'd finally be able to fly on her own, little wings or not.**  
Disclaimer: **I may be able to own _you_... at Guitar Hero. But I don't own these characters or anything like that. I don't think Guitar Hero even exists in the Holic world.

Tsuyuri Kohane wasn't very fond of her name. Nobody ever used it, so it seemed a little purposeless. She didn't care too much, though. She even thought that she'd rather like it if nobody knew her name. Why, after all, did she have to be _little wings_? Didn't all of the angels and even the _demons_ have large, majestic ones in paintings, pictures, and movies?

She didn't much enjoy the feeling of inferiority it gave her.

She didn't mind that even her mother never used her name, because every time she heard it, it was like a small jab. _You haven't earned your wings_, it mocked her silently.

That was, of course, before Watanuki Kimihiro stumbled into her life. He told her that her name was pretty and used it as often as he could. With his help, she was feeling less like some lesser being or subordinate and more like an angel-in-training. Maybe someday she'd earn her wings; big, beautiful, and white as freshly cleaned sheets.

Maybe someday, with the help of Kimihiro, she'd finally be able to fly on her own, little wings or not.

* * *

Okay, so.

Wikipedia says it's little feathers.

I haven't read the Del-Rey version.

My French one says it's little wings, and so does this other website, so I decided it would be okay to use it.

I know, I haven't written anything that's romance, really. But it's coming up, really, really soon, 'kay?

Sit tight and read 'til then.

P.S. This seems random, but does anyone else here like Elton John?


	8. Jeweled

**Fandom:** XXXHOLiC  
**Characters: **Doumeki Shizuka, Watanuki Kimihiro  
**Theme: **8 - Jeweled  
**Warnings/Ratings: **Um. Slight mentions of perversion?  
**In A Nutshell:** Because what Doumeki liked so much about watching Watanuki move was watching Watanuki _sweat_.**  
Disclaimer: **I don't own these characters; I just use them like toys.

Doumeki decided that he liked very much to watch Watanuki running around. Actually, he pretty much enjoyed watching the smaller boy do anything even remotely physically strenuous, be it soccer or flailing or trying unsuccessfully to land a punch on Doumeki's face when he was "being an asshole."

It wasn't just that he simply looked _right_ only when he was in motion, though that was admittedly some of it.

It sounded pretty perverse, actually, when he thought about it, and maybe it was, if only a little. Because what Doumeki liked so much about watching Watanuki move was watching Watanuki _sweat_.

It wasn't that he fantasized about… _things_ when he watched him sweat. He just liked the way it looked when he was sweating in the sun.

His hair gleamed like wet ink and his pale skin, luminous enough already, simply _sparkled_.

He had a hard time deciding whether he was jeweled, with each drop of sweat a glittering diamond, or if Watanuki himself was the jewel in all his rare, glittering glory.

Watanuki would eventually catch him staring and give him a dirty look that spoke volumes of his unhappiness at being _watched_. Then Doumeki would have to stop staring and exorcise the spirit, block the goal, interrupt his conversation with Kunogi, or deflect his pitiful excuses for punches.

Then he'd sigh inwardly and consider the possibility that maybe he was a pervert. Oh well. At least he was happy this way.

* * *

Perverted Doumeki is _fun_. 

So, anyways, you'll get your long-awaited actual romance next chapter.

You've all got shounen-aitis.

Themes ten and twelve are already writing themselves inside my head, and eleven's already written, so I promise you won't be out of things to read any time soon!

Bide your time and hold out hope!

(Does anyone else know where that's from?)


	9. Sweet

**Fandom:** XXXHOLiC  
**Characters: **Doumeki Shizuka, Watanuki Kimihiro  
**Theme: **9 – Sweet  
**Warnings/Ratings: **Slight language. Kissing?  
**In A Nutshell:** He'd known when Yuuko had given him the day off with that smirk of hers that something was bound to go horribly, horribly wrong, so he'd prepared himself for lots of things, including, but not limited to, his own death and the apocalypse.**  
Disclaimer: **I'm not Japanese, I'm not a fantastical artist, and I'm not four different people, thus I am not CLAMP and therefore don't own Holic.

Watanuki found it creepy. Immensely, enormously, inescapably_ creepy._

He shook the package he was holding, hoping that maybe it was a bomb of some sort and would explode with rough handling. No such luck; both he and the box were still intact after two minutes of vigorous shaking on Watanuki's part. He sighed, a pipe bomb was much better than the alternative, but the box was way too small and not volatile enough for any hopes of that.

He'd known when Yuuko had given him the day off with that smirk of hers that something was bound to go horribly, horribly wrong, so he'd prepared himself for lots of things, including, but not limited to, his own death and the apocalypse. However, when he had made it to lunch without seeing so much as one glimpse of Doumeki, he wondered if he was dead or something and Yuuko, ever the sensitive one, had given him the day off to attend his funeral or something and pay his final respects to the idiot. He thought the archer probably wouldn't be much different dead, still cold and expressionless and silent, and he snorted at this. Himawari looked over at him worriedly, asking if he had a cold.

He was still pondering how he felt about Doumeki's demise as he was walking home when he discovered he didn't actually have to think about it at all, seeing as…

"Oi." Watanuki spun around, outraged, to see a very much alive, though still cold and expressionless and silent, Doumeki staring blankly at him, a small box in hand. He was standing nonchalantly by the temple's ornate door, presumably waiting for Watanuki. Now that he had arrived, he stepped forward and tossed the box at him. He barely managed to catch it, but his klutziness got the better of him and he tipped over. The way Doumeki caught him with one arm by the waist was so effortless and reflex-like made him want to punch the ingrate in the face.

"What's this?" He was suspicious, if it came from _that_ three-hundred-eyes, then it was probably sinister. And _icky_.

"Whi… da… I though…I mean…" Doumeki was actually mumbling. Fascinating!

"What was that?"

"White Day."

Ah. So this was some sort of return gift for swiping his culinary confection intended for Himawari-chan _AGAIN_?! What the hell? He stole that! Who did he think he was?!

"…HEY. WHAT THE HELL? YOU STOLE THAT CHOCOLATE. WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE?!"

"I'm Doumeki." And with that he disappeared to within the depths of the temple. Watanuki would have launched the box at his head if he could actually see where it was. Well, maybe. It would be sort of insensitive to do that, and even though the _bastard_ probably did stuff like that all the time to poor, defenseless fangirls, he would like to think that he had better manners than that.

That was how he had gotten where he was, walking home with the small box. After trying to provoke any deadly animals that could possibly be inside to come out, he finally decided to examine the box.

It was square and wrapped in a very pretty blue wrapping paper reminiscent of something he did not want to think that Doumeki had stared at for long periods of time. The bow on top was a butterscotch color that reminded him of something he did not want to think that he had stared at for too long. A small card the same color as the bow was attached as well, and he decided to read it when he got into his apartment, which was currently about a meter away from where he was standing.

Stepping inside and roughly pulling off his shoes, he unceremoniously dropped everything except for the intriguing little box.

Plopping down on a seat, he turned over the card to read it and a small vein in his forehead protested twitchily at what was written there.

_Oi._

He pressed on, despite a great urge to rip the piece of paper to shreds and douse them in kerosene before gleefully igniting them.

_It took me a while to make these. _

His face smoothed out. He'd actually _made_ something for him? How very… sweet.

_Doumeki_

Of course he'd only sign his name and not cushion it with a closing like "sincerely" or… or… his heart was unfortunately enjoying itself on some insane rollercoaster in his chest. Or something like "love."

He nimbly peeled off the wrapping paper, not wanting to shred it because… just because.

Opening the box's lid, he saw ten white chocolate lined up in perfect rows of five by two, surprisingly unharmed by his merciless attempts at discerning the box's intentions earlier. Hesitantly, he picked one up and placed it into his mouth.

What the hell? This was actually _good_! If Doumeki could cook, why did he need Watanuki to make bento for him?! He was caught somewhere between being pleasantly surprised that the oaf could cook and really pissed because he was being a lazy _mooch_.

Glancing at the army of white chocolate, a valiant one now missing from their numbers, he decided to call up Doumeki to thank him. Instead, on intuition, he went to his door and opened, trying to decide whether he was surprised or not and settled for, "Stalker."

Doumeki looked at him dryly and said, "I'm not. I forgot something." Watanuki momentarily felt his face being crushed against another; then it was over and he adjusted his glasses, glaring up at Doumeki, who had decided to ignore him for the time being. "You tasted like chocolate," he said, as if he were talking about the weather and not the weirdest kiss Watanuki would probably ever experience.

"That was horribly unromantic, you know," he said, absently, because his brain was still desperately pulling itself together after spontaneously combusting a few seconds prior.

"Did you like it?" Watanuki wasn't sure what he was talking about until he gestured towards the chocolates.

"It was nice. Sweet."

"See you tomorrow, then," he said, walking away. The shorter boy couldn't believe what he was about to do, but…

"Wait. Come back. You can… You can stay. For a little. I guess." He turned back into his apartment to avoid seeing the smirk that he _knew_ was there. "Well, chocolate is probably sweeter when eaten with friends," he muttered to himself, but he wasn't really sure if they were just friends anymore, or if they had even been friends to begin with.

He decided to just enjoy the company now and ponder what had just passed later. The door closed behind him and he shoved Doumeki into a chair as he prepared to make tea.

It was sweet of him not to leave him alone.

* * *

Told you so. Heh. 

Anyways, yeah, that was really weird, and things are about to get a whole lot weirder (they always do with me).

Until next time, then!


	10. Honey

**Fandom:** XXXHOLiC  
**Characters: **Doumeki Shizuka, Watanuki Kimihiro  
**Theme: **10 -Honey  
**Warnings/Ratings: **My potty mouth returns once again! And plasters itself on Watanuki!  
**In A Nutshell:** This was not worth it. One-hundred percent, completely, totally, entirely not worth it.**  
Disclaimer: **I'm too lightheaded to be able to say something clever about not owning Holic.

"The bento's good today. Honey." Watanuki weighed the odds of his survival in the future if he were to strangle Doumeki now, deciding that they weren't very good and resigning himself to his always-miserable fate.

"Thanks… _darling_." More spite was channeled into that one word than humanly conceivable. The archer's eyes were almost _gleaming_ at the shorter boy's plight, yet his face displayed no emotion.

This was not worth it. One-hundred percent, completely, totally, entirely not worth it. When he'd asked how to repay Doumeki for that last bit of life-saving, instead of getting the standard response (a grunt somewhere along the lines of, "food,") he'd gotten a long, pensive pause. Then, even more contrary to the usual, the taller boy replied, "Let me call you 'honey.'" And, as if his jaw hadn't dropped far enough, he added, "And you should call me… darling." Before the tortured boy could even protest, Yuuko came out of no-freaking-where and called it a fair exchange and a done deal. He'd wanted to _cry_. So much.

"Honey. Let's go." After being forced to sit through the lumbering yeti's archery practice, an entire day of being called such a derogatory name, and _now_ being ordered around like some subservient housewife, Watanuki snapped.

"WHY DO YOU INSIST ON USING SUCH STUPID NAMES?! AND NOT JUST _ANY_ STUPID NAMES, BUT STUPID _ENGLISH _NAMES?! DO YOU REALIZE HOW FREAKY IT IS TO BE CALLED SOMETHING LIKE _THAT_? AND TO BE A _GUY_ BEING CALLED SOMETHING LIKE THAT?! AND THE FREAKIEST THING IS_ YOU_, USING A TERM OF _ENDEARMENT_ WITH ABSOLUTELY _NO EMOTION_ IN YOUR VOICE!" Now that he was quite finished and had succeeded in getting the entire archery team to stare at him, the corners of Doumeki's mouth flipped up into a smirk.

He grabbed Watanuki by the arm, causing the insane boy to flail about purposelessly until they reached their destination, the back of the school, where he then released him and proceeded to back him into a corner.

Leaning in, devilish smirk still in place, he said, "So you want to hear me say it _passionately_, then?" Watanuki was so astonished by the strange position he was suddenly in that he could only blink for a few moments.

When he finally regained control of his senses, he stammered out, "Absolutely not!" Doumeki was nearly grinning now and it did nothing to help with the overall feeling of being stunned that he was currently experiencing. _And_ he was getting closer. To avoid seeing what might be about to happen, he clenched his eyelids together.

Doumeki chuckled, turning Watanuki's head and whispering, "Honey," ever-so-softly into his ear. To the smaller boy it sounded tinted with happiness and that scared the _shit_ out of him. Even more so than the emotionless version of the horrific name had. He waited for what was presumably to come next, but he felt Doumeki pull away and by the time he'd opened up his eyes the bastard was several meters away and walking with his back turned to him.

"Damn it! Wait up!" He thought for a second, letting a sneaky smile slip as he said sweetly, "_Darling._"

Watching Doumeki trip over nothing made him feel so damn _triumphant_.

* * *

Sorry this took so long to get to you guys.

I had written about half of something somewhat the same as this and then scrapped it to write up this shorter and more obviously sleep-deprived one.

I've had the next one written for a long time, but it's still as strange and sleep-deprived as this was.

Which is to say it's totally insane. Hehe.


	11. Pen

**Fandom:** XXXHOLiC  
**Characters: **Doumeki Shizuka, Watanuki Kimihiro  
**Theme: **11 - Pen  
**Warnings/Ratings: **Language! It's always the language. Oh, and total randomness in here. Heh.  
**In A Nutshell: **Doumeki has an interesting sense of humor.**  
Disclaimer: **I do own a bunch of pens. I don't own Holic.

"Hey Watanuki, can I borrow a pen?"

Silence reigned for a moment, then, "Doumeki, you _prick_, it's _3:40 in the morning_." After this came the dial tone and Doumeki proceeded to properly hang up his phone and then laugh his ass off.

* * *

Amazing, no?

This made me laugh so hard when I was suffering from insomnia at six in the morning.

It made me laugh so hard _because_ I was suffering from insomnia and it was six in the morning.

Alright. So I've already got ideas for the next one and it's going to be... different.

Really different.

Mentally prepare yourselves, it arrives tomorrow.


	12. Ink

**Fandom:** XXXHOLiC  
**Characters: **Doumeki Shizuka, Watanuki Kimihiro, Ichihara Yuuko  
**Theme: **12 - Ink  
**Warnings/Ratings: **I don't think that the language is too bad in this, but there's like. Kissing. And. It's really, really crack-y. Sorry. Oh god, I just realized that half of the sentences in this story sound so wrong when taken out of context.  
**In A Nutshell:** He could chew on ink pens, and that was what he did.**  
Disclaimer: **Everyone would be OOC if I owned Holic, and that doesn't even make sense!

Watanuki figured that Yuuko would have to start scolding him about his new bad habit sometime soon. In fact, he was surprised she hadn't already, although she _had_ been sending him some of her patented sneaky glances that meant something horrible was going to happen to him that just absolutely _tickled_ her.

He _usually_ wouldn't have done something like it, seeing as it was unsanitary, damaging to teeth, and there was a very real possibility of one's subject exploding on them, which would just make more unnecessary mess for him to clean up. However, these were _un_usual times.

He was nervous about school to begin with, then there were the spirits and his heinous job with Yuuko, not to mention his questionable relationship with Himawari-chan, and, to top it all off, crazy-ass Doumeki stepping in to sacrifice himself all of the time, which Watanuki found really hypocritical, but really, what could he do about all that?

He could chew on ink pens, and that was what he did. A habit he'd often found unsightly and disgusting worked slightly as self-hypnosis, so he used it. Unfortunately, on this particular day during his last class, he had, without noticing, stuck the wrong end of the pen into his mouth.

He wouldn't have noticed had it not been for the monotone voice announcing, "Sensei, it seems Watanuki's pen has exploded on him. I'm taking him to the restroom to get cleaned up." Then there was a hand clamped onto his arm, dragging him out of his seat and to the boys' restroom.

Luckily for Watanuki's already very shaky relationship with society, it was entirely empty. The hand quickly unbuttoned his shirt and slipped it off, running it under cold water. Still a little dazed from his self-hypnosis session, he hoped absentmindedly that it wouldn't stain. Then the reality of the situation pimp-slapped him right in the face.

He was standing half-naked, alone in a restroom with Doumeki, who was busying himself attempting to get a very large amount of blue ink off of a shirt he could have sworn he'd been wearing only moments ago. Oh wait, it _was _the shirt he had been wearing moments ago, Doumeki had taken it off for him. He wasn't sure about what to think of that, so he went to pondering why there was blue ink all over his shirt. He'd been chewing on a pen, and then – oh _shit_. It had exploded because he'd been chewing on the wrong side. Which could only mean…

He turned, horrified, to one of the mirrors to see ink all over his lips and a little on his chin. Hurriedly, he grabbed some paper towels and dabbed at the substance. Then it dawned on him that his _entire class_ – Himawari-chan included! – had seen him like this, with blue ink all over him. He turned a jolly shade of lobster red as Doumeki looked on, amused to no end. He'd been watching Watanuki's slow awakening to the situation closely, and, like most situations involving Watanuki, it did not disappoint on the entertainment factor.

Bemused, he handed him the shirt, informing him that most of the stain was gone but he'd still probably have to bleach it. The smaller boy just nodded, still frowning about the fact that his low social standing was plummeting, and since he'd looked like such a total freak, Himawari-chan would probably shun him like the pariah he _should_ be.

A voice interrupted him melancholy reverie. "What's wrong?"

"Huh?" There were plenty of things wrong, like the fact that he was going to be cast from society, never again to see his beautiful Himawari-

"You've been chewing on those pens for about a week now. Clearly, you've got anxieties about something."

"What, did you take psychology classes or something?" He sneered.

"Yes," the plaintive response came, the responder still awaiting an answer.

"It's none of your business." He whirled around to find a trash can for the paper towel now doused in ink and a little bit of saliva. Doumeki plucked it from his fingers and quickly located the trash can, while Watanuki stood there, disturbed that the archer had no qualms about touching his spit.

"Hn." He was looking at Watanuki's mouth, seeing as a lot of the ink hadn't come off so easily.

"I know, I know!" He slumped a little. "It's _never_ going to come off!" His lament echoed in the large room.

Doumeki wondered if it would be worth it, then quickly decided that it would be without a doubt.

"You're not using the proper method," he said, suppressing a grin.

"And what is that?" He was sounding less and less snippier, but not for lack of effort. That was strange…

"Well…"

"Oh fine, just do it _for_ me, then." He'd walked right into the trap, like the fool he was.

Quickly, so he wouldn't be able to run away, he'd shoved both himself and Watanuki into a stall, locking it. The smaller boy had by now realized something was very wrong, but he barely had enough time to emit the smallest squeak that resounded against the walls before Doumeki's mouth had very determinedly latched onto his lip, initiating the "cleaning" process.

Everything was all very confusing now, because Doumeki had offered to clean his face but was now _attached_ to it and sucking on his bottom lip. How strange.

He was counting. For exactly 1.04 seconds Watanuki was too shocked to do anything. That or he was daydreaming and it hadn't even registered yet that there was something distinctly Doumeki-shaped molesting him.

Oh. Doumeki was pretty much making out with him. Well. He couldn't really bring himself to care too much about it despite the large, flashing signs in his brain that told him he should probably kick the other boy in the groin and run away from there, shirt or no. But it wasn't unpleasant and if Doumeki was enjoying himself that much, he might as well just let him do whatever it was he was doing as a way of thanking him for all of the life-saving or something.

His eyes had widened for a little bit, and then he'd closed them. He wasn't kicking? Not screaming? Not punching or yelling or doing _anything_? It was much too good to be true. But that didn't mean he wasn't going to take advantage of it.

Well, the sucking on his bottom lip had been okay, so he just decided to let Doumeki continue with the kissing. He actually tasted pretty good, in Watanuki's opinion. A little bit like lunch, but more of something else he couldn't name. Maybe he would ask him what it was later. This was probably just more "cleaning" and would stop after his tongue was free of ink.

Doumeki was a bit saddened because there was a high possibility that a fetish for the taste of cheap ink would follow him throughout his life. He felt a little lightheaded. Was this love? Or something far more sinister? Then it caught his attention that there were a few little ink splatters on Watanuki's bare chest. He thought the blue made a lovely contrast against the creamy pale skin. Sadly, it would have to go…

When Doumeki pulled his face away, a detestable feeling of loss coursed through him, though it was not detestable that he felt the loss, as he would have said it was on any normal day. No, he detested the loss itself and actually managed to slur, "What're you doing?" But seeing how Doumeki was looking at the ink blots on his chest, he figured that he wasn't just thinking how they reminded him of his psychology class. Watanuki also decided he should probably stop whatever it was he was planning to do.

_Damn_. Watanuki had finally pushed him off, a glazed look in his eyes.

"Hey. I don't think," he paused, seemingly struggling with words. "Not in school," he said finally, and though he by no means _liked_ it, Doumeki had to agree. Then he was struck with a brilliant idea.

"I got it. Let's leave school. You know," he broke off. Watanuki wasn't the only one having trouble with words. "_Ditch_!" This he shouted excitedly, which was a first for him. He heard the word a few more times; the echoing in the bathroom was so _funny_!

"Okay!" Watanuki agreed, throwing his shirt on and leaving it open. He probably didn't have enough brain power to work the buttons correctly at the time, anyway. They stepped out of the stall and looked into the mirror across from them. They had blue smeared all over their faces, but instead of horrific, it struck both of them as mind-bendingly hilarious. They giggled madly as they pranced down the hall. They didn't actually have to worry about ditching or any other students seeing them, seeing as school had ended about twenty minutes earlier.

As they were walking by the front office, they heard someone yelling and decided to investigate. Stepping inside, they saw Yuuko arguing with a school police officer.

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN, THERE ARE NO CAMERAS IN THE BATHROOMS?!" She bellowed. As the police officer began stuttering a reply, she turned to the two very disheveled-looking teens, grinning. "Watanuki! Doumeki-kun! So nice to see you! Watanuki, I've got… business to attend to today, so you can have the rest of the day off! Have fun!" They ran out, still giggling, and when they were a safe distance ahead, she stalked after them, video camera in hand. If she could climb onto the balcony at Watanuki's apartment…

Yuuko found that this really _was_ worth all of the trouble of fiddling with Watanuki's ink pens.

* * *

So I was getting on the computer to listen to music before sleep and I saw a lovely review (you know who you are, grinning all silly-like) so I decided to type this up for everyone to read tomorrow so they don't have to wait so long! Yay! 

Sorry, as you can tell by the content of this story, my head is so. Messed. Up.

And what Yuuko had put in Watanuki's pen whilst tampering is the same alcohol that's in Princess.

The alcohol that's maybe not just alcohol! gasp

Right. I'm going to stop with the insanity now and sleep.

See you tomorrow with a new story or two, hopefully!


	13. Stopper

**Fandom:** XXXHOLiC  
**Characters: **Doumeki Shizuka, Watanuki Kimihiro  
**Theme: **13 - Stopper  
**Warnings/Ratings: **Nothing, actually. Amazing, no potty words or anything. I'm so proud of myself.  
**In A Nutshell:** Doumeki had always thought himself to be very efficient at ending things.**  
Disclaimer: **I need to come up with more interesting ways to say that I don't own Holic.

Doumeki had always thought himself to be very efficient at ending things. He could stop a conversation with one small glare; break up a fight between sworn enemies just by walking up to it. He often killed confessions of love before they had even started by telling whatever girl, "I'm sorry, but I cannot return your feelings," right after she had walked up to him with her head bowed and before she could even open her mouth. He could also keep his thoughts in line easily by simply switching the topic with another one whenever he pleased.

This had changed, as everything else had, when he'd met Watanuki Kimihiro. It was to be lamented; he'd particularly liked this ability before the smaller boy had scrambled into his life and snatched it from him messily.

He could not stop a conversation with Watanuki by glaring at him, because if he really cared about what he was saying then he would just keep going and if he _didn't_ care then he'd give Doumeki an earful for glaring at the amazing Watanuki-sama.

He could not break up a fight with Watanuki no matter _what_ he tried, seeing as doing anything other than letting the fool vent his anger on him would result in louder volume and prolonged annoyance. Since the clashes were pretty much one-sided, it didn't really take much effort, except for raising his hands to his ears as a preventative measure against hearing loss.

Doumeki didn't really want to think about what would happen if Watanuki confessed to him, partially because it would never happen and partially because he just _couldn't_ think about it. However, he knew that he'd probably never be able to turn him away easily, seeing as he wasn't just some nameless, faceless girl. Oh, and there was a little bit of feeling Doumeki would not admit to that would quite possibly make his heart lock up in his chest if that were ever to happen. Which it wouldn't.

And try as he might, he could not stop thinking of Watanuki Kimihiro. It didn't help that whenever he tried to think of something else, it would always lead him back to the idiot. If he thought of his grandfather, then he'd start thinking of who was dreaming about him. If he thought of archery, then he'd think of saving that moron again and again. Food, school, even _chores_, everything ended up bringing his thoughts back to the imbecile. It was so _annoying_.

There were other, newer things he'd tried to end and failed miserably at. He tried to stop Watanuki from doing stupid things for other people, but he'd do them anyway. He tried to stop Watanuki from flailing so _happily_ over Kunogi, but he would just get hissed at for his efforts. He tried to stop saving him, but he couldn't just let him die: that would be outright impolite. He'd also attempted, with great effort that was sadly to no avail, to stop watching him peripherally, but every time the fool was out of his sight he felt a wracking, heavy worry that lessened significantly when he was there but not quite enough to disappear. He couldn't help but be amazed at how much pure _trouble_ one small boy could attract without actually searching for it.

Oh, and he'd tried to stop caring, as well. But that hadn't worked, either.

* * *

Sorry this took so long. Urgh. 

I had to get so much stuff done in preparation for the beginning of school it's not even funny.

Luckily, it's all done now and I can relax for about a week before I have to collapse under a towering stack of homework again.

Ick.

So anyways, hopefully I won't take so long with the next theme.


	14. Wine

**Fandom:** XXXHOLiC  
**Characters: ** Ichihara Yuuko, Watanuki Kimihiro, Unnamed Male Mystery Character, Doumeki Shizuka  
**Theme: **14 - Wine  
**Warnings/Ratings: **I wrote, "hell," in here once. Somewhere.  
**In A Nutshell:** On dark, clear nights like these, she'd drag out some of it and sit outside on the grass, recalling bitter things, sweet things, _all_ things; things she could toast to and things she never would.**  
Disclaimer: **If anything, Holic owns me.

At first she had thought it had tasted awful. It was bitter, sour, intangibly _something_ that absolutely did _not_ suit her. She had pushed back the glass distastefully while he laughed at her, telling her she would just have to get used to it and before she could ask him just what the hell he had meant by that he'd held up his glass. Instead of saying the usual, "Kampai," he had said, "To the future." She had clinked her glass to his and muttered, "The future," back at him, taking another swig of the God-awful stuff and thinking that it at least took the edge off of things.

More years later than she'd like to think, he was gone and she was sipping that same vile substance. Not all alcohol tasted the same, thankfully, because in her line of work, she had really needed it. However, on dark, clear nights like these, she'd drag out some of it and sit outside on the grass, recalling bitter things, sweet things, _all_ things; things she could toast to and things she never would. She heard the door slide open behind her and though she did not remove her eyes from the sky she knew it could only be one person.

"Would you like a drink, Watanuki?" Her voice floated over to him lazily, as if it had all the time in the world. Maybe it did; she didn't really want to know.

"No thank you, Yuuko-san. I was just wondering if-"

"There's anything else to do? No, you may go home now." Her mouth twisted into a smirk. "I daresay Doumeki-kun has been waiting out there for quite some time."

Contrary to the usual outraged yelling that would have normally followed this comment, only a shift of air resembling a sigh wandered over on the light breeze. "Good night, Yuuko-san."

"See you tomorrow, Watanuki," she said, never tearing her eyes from the sky. Another sigh wafted over and the door slid shut once more.

_Good for you, Watanuki,_ she thought, idly breaking her gaze into the stratosphere to look at the glass she was holding and what it contained. _I hope you never need this._ With that, she fixed her stare upon the stars again and raised her glass.

"To the future."

* * *

That was not random in any way at all. 

Sorry it sounds weird; I've been trying to cut down on my use of contractions (Yet I just said, "I've").

So I've already written the next one and that will be up shortly.


	15. Stone

**Fandom:** XXXHOLiC  
**Characters:** Doumeki Shizuka, Watanuki Kimihiro  
**Theme: **15 - Stone  
**Warnings/Ratings: **Nothing. Are you as surprised as I am?  
**In A Nutshell:** Maybe he should come over more often at times he'd be afraid to wake the neighbors.**  
Disclaimer:** I own only my own thoughts.

It hit his window loudly, waking him, and he was immediately filled with pure hatred. For whom or what was to be decided, but oh yes, it was there. Then he deigned to grant mercy to the cursed being and rolled over on his futon, attempting to get back to sleep.

_Pop._ He tried to ignore it.

_Pop._ This would be more difficult than he'd thought.

_Ping!_ He pulled a pillow over his head and tried to remain vigilant.

Five minutes had him scrambling to the window and unlatching it to give whomever a piece of his mind. Luckily his reflexes weren't dulled by his weariness, else he would have gotten a face full of rock. He peered down to see a hulking figure standing on the grass below. If his suspicions were correct…

"Oi." The whisper drifted up to him. He was seeing red, regardless of the fact that it was so dark.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?" This, Doumeki was sure, was as loud as a whisper could get.

"Can I come up?" It was less like a question and more like a statement.

"WHAT? NO! WHY?" He responded with a flippant shrug that the other boy probably couldn't see, and although he'd seriously expected Watanuki to find the stone and throw it back at him, probably somewhere in the region of his eyes, he somehow ended up inside of the apartment in a timely fashion that had not involved any bodily harm. If he had known it would be _that_ easy-

"Really, what is it you wanted?" Watanuki's voice was surprisingly soft and Doumeki found he preferred it this way. Maybe he should come over more often at times he'd be afraid to wake the neighbors.

Not really being able to come up with a coherent response, seeing as his reasoning hadn't even made sense to himself, he shrugged once again, sipping at the tea that the smaller boy had thoughtfully made for him.

"Let me guess, you came here to watch me squirm uncomfortably while you don't talk at all." Doumeki liked this quiet Watanuki talking to him dryly. Maybe he could buy something like it off of the internet.

Not answering might change him back, though, so he said slowly, "I came here because-"

"You wanted to get a look at a sleepy idiot, right?" He was a little amazed that he'd cut him off, but he didn't show it. The smaller boy slumped down a little and dropped his head onto the back of the chair. "Well, here you go. I hope you're happy." He then stood up excruciatingly slowly. "I'm going back to sleep now." He checked that his door was locked, but then remembered Doumeki's presence. "Right, you," he muttered, not particularly loathingly but more groggily. "Just… do whatever." And with those eloquent words he was off to his bedroom.

Well.

He lay down on the couch thoughtfully and fell asleep to the nearly-inaudible melody of Watanuki's even breathing.

When he woke up, there was a blanket draped over him.

* * *

Once again, I withhold romance from you squealing fangirls!

Sorry about that. Heh.

Now we're starting to get higher up in numbers and thus into stories I wrote some time ago.

This is going to get interesting.


	16. Paper

**Fandom:** XXXHOLiC  
**Characters:** Doumeki Shizuka, Watanuki Kimihiro  
**Theme: **16 - Paper  
**Warnings/Ratings:** The usual suspect, bad language.  
**In A Nutshell:** He pondered lying, but the truth would get so much more of a rise out of the volatile boy that he simply couldn't resist.**  
Disclaimer:** Nope. Don't own it.

"Aaagh!" He let slip this particular cry of frustration as he thought for what wasn't the first and most certainly would not be the last time that he was going to die. He was, in fact, probably the only person his age to have a regularly-updated will. It was getting increasingly difficult to move under the crushing weight of the whatever-it-was, so he allowed himself to collapse to the sidewalk, the spirit happily glomming over him like some sort of macabre steamroller. Then there was a smacking noise and the monster dissipated as a piece of paper came floating gently down to land right in front of his face. He looked up to see none other than Doumeki Shizuka looking down at him blankly, one hand extended so as to help him up off the ground.

Snatching up the piece of paper in such a way that Doumeki couldn't help but pity it and entirely ignoring the hand that had only the intention of aid, Watanuki got to his feet. He granted the archer a spiteful glare that he wasn't quite sure he deserved before huffing, "What are _you_ doing here?" _Such a snarky way to greet someone who just saved your life,_ Doumeki thought.

"I was out shopping." For further emphasis on this point he lifted the bad in his hand. They had somehow started walking after that, Watanuki stalking off to wherever he was going and Doumeki trailing him. The smaller boy viciously hurled the piece of paper into a trash receptacle and the archer marveled at how he managed to channel his ferocious energy into every little thing he did.

"So what voodoo hex did you put on that paper to make that thing vaporize?" Even when asking a question, he wouldn't turn around to face him. _This is something I could use to my advantage_, Doumeki thought with a smirk. He pondered lying, but the truth would get so much more of a rise out of the volatile boy that he simply couldn't resist.

"I spit on it." He could imagine Watanuki's face, red and livid and _there it was_, turning to face him.

"You _what_?!" He sputtered indignantly, because if Doumeki had really said what he _thought_ he had said…

"I. Spit. On. It." His always-expressionless face twitched a little, perhaps holding back a smile. That _bastard_.

"AAARGH! I _TOUCHED_ THAT THING! WITH MY _BARE HAND_!" He proceeded to flail about, much to the amusement of his "audience." "OH GOD! THERE IS NOT ENOUGH SOAP IN THE WORLD FOR SOMETHING LIKE THIS! SURELY MY HAND WILL DO ME A FAVOR AND ROT OFF OR SOMETHING!" As he continued his pointless blabbering, a fantastic idea struck the archer.

Moments later, Watanuki felt calloused hands running carefully through his hair. "Um, Doumeki? Hello?" Even if it felt nice, it was much too awkward for public, or even private, for that matter. It wasn't as if the world held him in high regard, though, so he just let the archer continue.

Some time later the hands removed themselves from his hair and he opened his eyes (that's funny, when had he closed them?) to find himself leaning heavily on a highly-entertained Doumeki, who softly pushed him off and picked up his bag once more. "What was that for?"

"It worked the first time, right?" He was about to resume walking when a pale hand tugged insistently at his sleeve from behind him. He turned to face a pouting Watanuki.

"What do you mean by that?" He gently disentangled the hand from his sleeve and began walking once again. Thankfully, the smaller boy didn't follow this time.

When he was a safe distance away and almost rounding a corner, he called out, "That should be enough to repel spirits long enough for you to get where you're going." Then he was gone.

Still confused, Watanuki reached up to touch his hair for some sort of hint and was even more confused when his hand was met with a wet and slightly thick blob of liquid. Bewilderment turned to horror as he realized what it was. He had spit in his hair. He had spit. In. His. Hair. Not just any spit, either. _Doumeki_ spit.

"DOUMEKI, YOU JERK, I SWEAR TO GOD THE NEXT TIME WE MEET YOU WILL BE PAYING _DEARLY_ FOR THIS." The threat resounded so that even the person it was intended for, who was several blocks away by this time, could hear it. This far away, he let the mirth overtake him in the form of small chuckles. He couldn't wait to see what the "price" would be.

* * *

Ah, I need to work on my vocabulary usage. 

Hopefully I'll have the next one up soon!


	17. Scissors

**Fandom:** XXXHOLiC  
**Characters:** Doumeki Shizuka, Watanuki Kimihiro  
**Theme: **17 - Scissors  
**Warnings/Ratings:** I'm trying to cut down on the amount of potty words, and it's working.  
**In A Nutshell:** And finally, Watanuki had found an insult that would shut the idiot up.**  
Disclaimer:** …Uh-uh. NOT GUILTY (Of owning Holic)!

They were in the temple, studying not-so-silently. It was some small, insignificant remark, easily forgotten, that had set him off this time. Being so angry, he grabbed the nearest threatening-looking object and chased the moron with it. That is, he chased the moron with it until said moron whipped around and grabbed his wrist. A little shocked, he dropped the metal implement.

"Hasn't anyone ever told you not to run with scissors?" It still sounded deadpan, but… maybe it was a little angry. Or maybe he was imagining things. He hoped it was the latter and not the former, else he'd have to start dodging asteroids bearing the apocalypse sometime soon.

""Err…" Watanuki was sure he had a retort for this _somewhere_, but it was hard to maintain a coherent string of thought now that Doumeki was no longer holding his wrist but his hand.

"We wouldn't want you losing another one of these," he said in a softer shade of monotone than usual, staring directly into his eyes unabashedly. Then he lifted the conglomeration of hands attached to their wrists and traced under the smaller boy's right eye with his finger. It was sufficiently creepy enough for him to close his eyes at this point. The wandering finger, still dragging along his hand, then danced lightly over the bridge of his nose to sweep about the hollow under his left eye fleetingly, tickling the sensitive skin a bit and making Watanuki shudder _very_ involuntarily.

A puff of breath that could be construed as a chuckle ghosted across his face from a source that was _much too close_. Then there was something pressing against his eyelid softly and he wondered why the pervert kept touching his _eyes_ of all things, but then it hit him with all the force of a very hungry spirit.

Doumeki's finger had been very rough, hadn't it? And it wasn't quite so… squishy. Nor had it been _wet_, and it was upon coming to this thought that he almost opened his eyes in shock. Almost. Instead, he simply stood still and allowed the insane archer to do… whatever he was doing. After a moment, he moved to the other eyelid, as Watanuki was frozen with bated breath caught in his throat. Just as he'd expected, there was now another mouth breathing very close to his. He squeezed his eyes shut even more. The hand still twined with his gave a squeeze, and then…

And then _nothing_. The… the… _abomination_ pulled away, sat down, and resumed his homework. The smaller boy, still shell-shocked, stood in place for a second, eyes narrowed in hazy confusion. Then he bent to fate and dropped to the floor, except…

"_Ow_." He had sat on the scissors. There wasn't any damage to his uniform, thankfully, but it had still _hurt_. Doumeki was snickering. "Oh shut up you… you… you _tease_." And finally, Watanuki had found an insult that would shut the idiot up.

* * *

I think it's sort of funny that I always write Doumeki as a tease. Ahaha. 

New chapter will be up very soon, seeing as I wrote it quite some time ago.


	18. Empty Box

**Fandom:** XXXHOLiC  
**Characters:** Doumeki Shizuka, Watanuki Kimihiro, Doumeki Haruka, Cardboard Box  
**Theme: **18 – Empty Box  
**Warnings/Ratings:** A bad word! A bad word! Somewhere in there.  
**In A Nutshell:** It seemed to be saying, "I can outlast you," and Watanuki really started to question his sanity because he was having a battle of the wills with a cardboard box.**  
Disclaimer:** I own several empty boxes, but not Holic.

Doumeki had dropped it off randomly one night, leaving it obtrusively in front of the door. He _would_ do something like that.

Watanuki saw it as he was leaving for school. It was sitting there, waiting, no note, nothing. He _would _do something like that. The smaller boy punted it into his apartment to make it suffer.

He mentioned the box at school to the idiot, who only pretended not to know what he was talking about. He _would_ do something like that.

When he got back to his apartment, the box was sneering at him. Well, he was pretty sure that if it had a face to sneer with, that was what it would be doing. It seemed to be saying, "I can outlast you," and Watanuki really started to question his sanity because he was having a battle of the wills with a cardboard box. So, instead of even gracing it with the attention of a kick to the side, he walked purposefully right on past it, trotting off to do his homework and feeling pretty good about his self-control.

It took about three days for him to break, the majority of this time being spent engaging the stupid thing in staring contests, which he'd always lose because the box didn't have eyelids to blink with (_Or eyes in the first place. Cheater_, Watanuki thought bitterly). So when he finally stalked up to the damned thing, defeat in his eyes, he could _feel_ it smirking at him, a trick it had probably learned from the _bastard_ it had come from. Finally, he was kneeling before it; the moment he'd been anticipating for so long had finally come. He carefully peeled the tape off and peered into the box to find…

Nothing. Nothing but the words, "I'm sorry," printed at the bottom.

He'd _better_ be sorry; getting Watanuki's hopes up like that with such a huge thing as the possibility of a present but really just giving him an empty box. He _would_ do something like that, and the belligerent boy decided that there would be _hell_ to pay (equal price for tricking him like that) on Doumeki's part the next time he saw him, going to bed with thoughts of vengeance running through his head.

He met Haruka briefly in a dream, and instead of getting to talk with him for a while Haruka simply said, "Look closer," and spirited himself away. **He**_ would_ do something like **that**.

When Watanuki woke up an hour earlier than usual, he decided that Haruka was talking about the box. He wandered over to it warily with the intention of examining it thoroughly, but he didn't actually have to search too much to find something else.

Written on the underside of the right flap were the words, "I don't have anything to give you." Watanuki scoffed; he was the depraved orphan here! Figuring there would be something on the other flap, he flipped it over and checked it. He was correct, this flap bore the words, "That you haven't already got." Watanuki didn't have the time to be puzzled, because his brain had tied the two strings of words together to form the sentence, "I don't have anything to give you that you haven't already got."

Now he could be puzzled. What was _that_ supposed to mean? Getting out a slip of paper, he scrawled what he'd seen when he first opened the box, "I'm sorry." Then he scribbled, "I don't have anything to give you that you haven't already got," underneath it and stuck it to his fridge. Then, for lack of anything better to do, he got ready and headed off for school about forty minutes early.

Glancing at the mysterious box in the middle of his living room one more time before he shut the door and locked it, he then walked at a leisurely pace towards the school building. After passing the temple, he was surprised and not surprised to find a set of footsteps accompanying his own. Confused, he whirled around to face the ever-calm Doumeki.

"What are you doing awake so early?" It hadn't come out right, he mentally corrected it, _and for that matter, why are you awake, dressed, and following me?_ Doumeki just shrugged. He _would_ do something like that. The rest of the trip was spent in uncomfortable silence.

It wasn't until about a week of staring at the box had passed that everything clicked. It was the look in his eyes as he shot another bothersome spirit. That look made him re-evaluate everything; walking him to and from school, the way he seemed to be _watching_ him all the time, his disinterest in pretty much everyone who wasn't Watanuki, and finally, _finally_, the box. He raced home and tore through the door. He needed to be sure.

The box was there, and he knew it never would have left him. He stared at it, wondering if it would ever make sense to him and deciding that it probably wouldn't. And yet he still wasn't sure, not entirely.

After he was done with everything and ready to go to bed, he went instead to the box whose purpose had evaded him for so long and looked at it with a sigh. He turned it over, hoping for an answer, a conclusion, an end to the madness, and _there it was_.

It could've been a grease stain or maybe a crushed bug but all he really knew was that it was shaped like a very miniscule heart. He put the box back down in its regular position and climbed into it. Curled up on his side, he knew it wasn't as soft as his futon and he'd wake up with terrible back pain, but what was _in_ the box made him want to stay instead of trudge to his cold, empty futon. The box wasn't empty at all, more filled with things than that futon ever was.

He silently cursed Doumeki for sending a box armed with only a few words as a confession. He _would _do something like that.

* * *

So this one I wrote a while ago... 

I really don't know how long...

Now that we're getting higher up in numbers I'll be updating more often, seeing as I've got more of these pre-written.

Why didn't I write more of the earlier stories?

No clue.

I wrote two through sixteen pretty much one after the other, but I did that only after I'd built up a pile of ten or so other stories from the list.

Yeah, I'm kind of crazy. Don't mind it.


	19. Burn

**Fandom:** XXXHOLiC  
**Characters:** Doumeki Shizuka, Watanuki Kimihiro, Mokona, Maru, Moro, Ichihara Yuuko  
**Theme: **19 – Burn  
**Warnings/Ratings:** None.  
**In A Nutshell:** He also couldn't help but feel that maybe having all of the company was worth burning a little food every once in a while.**  
Disclaimer:** Not even close to owning it.

Watanuki hadn't ruined food since he was very young and had just begun learning to cook. Even while his parents were still alive, he wouldn't burn anything when given the chance to cook. This all stemmed from his ability to concentrate when he had an important task, and as far as important tasks, cooking was very high up. Food could say all of the things words could not (like when he put too many onions in it meant he was angry at the world in general).

Things like that had changed when he began working at Yuuko's Shop of Insanity ™.

Mokona would bounce in first, jabbering at 300 kilometers an hour and attempting to filch food he was cooking. As he reprimanded the pork bun, the twins would come in and echo his words loudly as they waltzed about the already slightly-crowded kitchen. At about this point in time, Yuuko would come in and inquire about the state of the food, draping herself all over him in that supremely agitating fashion of hers while complaining about how she was running low on alcohol even though he _knew_ he had bought some only yesterday.

As if that wasn't enough, nowadays Doumeki would come into the shop from time to time to like a stray dog to eat some of the food. He would enter the kitchen silently and fix what could only be considered a condescending gaze upon the smaller boy, though it was hard to tell with those beady little eyes of his – and speaking of beady little eyes, Mugetsu would make an appearance corresponding to Doumeki's from an unknown place within Watanuki's clothing and twine around his neck, placing kisses all over his face and giving the archer what could be considered a glare. But then again – beady little eyes.

Amidst all of this pandemonium, he'd eventually become angry and start yelling at everyone for a good, long while, demanding that they just _get out already_, except during this the pot would boil over and the oven wouldn't stop baking the food just because it was finished and Watanuki would have to work very strenuously to salvage the everything.

When everything was finished, there was sub-par food to be served to hungry ingrates and he couldn't help but feel entirely overwhelmed by everything.

He also couldn't help but feel that maybe having all of the company was worth burning a little food every once in a while.

* * *

Last night I went through the old stories and fixed mistakes I hadn't noticed. Urk.

It's getting better as I go on.

I wrote like a maniac today. Sort of. Heh.


	20. Blossom

**Fandom:** XXXHOLiC  
**Characters:** Watanuki Kimihiro, Doumeki Haruka, Ichihara Yuuko, Doumeki Shizuka  
**Theme: **20 – Blossom  
**Warnings/Ratings:** CAPSLOCK!Spam.  
**In A Nutshell:** "I'M SOME PATHETIC PURPLE FLOWER?! WHAT?!"**  
Disclaimer:** They're not my characters, I just sometimes pretend they are.

Watanuki was very suddenly in a garden and he immediately knew it was a dream, not just because Haruka-san was there but also because nobody in their right mind would have a garden like _this_.

It could be more aptly described as a forest, but it didn't feel that way; forests had their own sort of organization and this was a place of chaos and haphazard care that he could feel emanating from the plants. Care because, as it was a garden, there was obviously an owner somewhere.

Haruka broke his train of thought with a warm greeting and a warm smile, both of which were returned hastily as he made his way over to the man.

"Wait." Watanuki stopped in his tracks, one foot still lifted, which he set down next to its partner. "Good, you almost crushed it."

"Almost crushed _what_?"

"Your spirit," he said, pointing down to a mass of weeds that had been directly underneath his foot only moments before.

"I'm pretty sure my spirit is _not_ a _weed_," he huffed.

Haruka chuckled deeply and said, "Under them." The boy got to his knees and carefully untangled the weeds, prying them away to see a pitiful-looking purple flower, droopy and malnourished.

"IS _THAT_ SUPPOSED TO BE _ME_?!" His rival's carbon-copy nodded amusedly. "I'M SOME PATHETIC PURPLE FLOWER?! WHAT?!" Then a thought occurred to him, "If that's me, then what's Doume- er… Shizuka?" Confident that _he_ would be an even smaller, pink flower, he could feel his spirit wilting below him when Haruka pointed at what seemed to be the largest tree around. Before he could open his mouth to rage around at how _unfair_ it all was, Haruka began talking again.

"The weeds are preventing your growth. You know what these are. Do not let them hinder you." He was looking rather transparent now. "Maybe you'll become a larger tree than Shizuka someday."

"FLOWERS DON'T TURN INTO TREES."

"Oh yeah…" And then he was gone.

Watanuki woke up feeling distinctly pissed, and when he saw Yuuko, he did not hesitate to tell her right away that she should probably pull some weeds in that damned garden of hers.

* * *

I will let the first person who correctly names the manga I got the idea of this from request a story from me or something. 


	21. Rise

**Fandom:** XXXHOLiC  
**Characters:** Watanuki Kimihiro, Doumeki Shizuka  
**Theme: **21 – Rise  
**Warnings/Ratings:** More bad words. I wanted to drop the F-bomb, but it seems like that would take this from the T rating.  
**In A Nutshell:** He tried to glare into his stupid, golden eyes, but he turned away, and this was the last straw.**  
Disclaimer:** If they were my characters… scary things would happen. Scary things.

He would have yelled at him for surprising him like that normally. However, normal currently didn't apply. He had bread rising and he did _not_ want to mess that up. Even if he was relatively silent about the whole appearing out of nowhere thing, it did not mean that he appreciated it, nor did it mean he wasn't extremely angry about it.

"Oi." _Think about the bread, the __**bread**_

"Go away, Doumeki." Keeping his voice down was difficult because the bastard had been _watching _him like he always did when he thought he wasn't looking.

"Hn." Of course he wouldn't leave that easily. Watanuki shot him a look that he hoped would be able to make small children cry. For all of his efforts, he got a raised eyebrow.

"Doumeki, _please_," because he had finished cleaning up most of the mess he had made in the kitchen and since he was no longer occupied, he'd have to face that unwavering gaze.

He said nothing, as usual. He never said _anything_, did he?

"Doumeki. Seriously," because he didn't want to deal with the aggravating archer, not now, not ever.

"Doumeki." This was less pleading and more growling; he was losing his temper and he _knew_ it, but there nothing he could do about it, nothing he _wanted_ to do about it.

He tried to glare into his stupid, golden eyes, but he turned away, and this was the last straw. _Screw the bread_, he thought viciously.

"YOU!" This got him focused on Watanuki again, and he was glad; he didn't want the idiot missing a _single_ word of what was to come. "I am _sick_ and _tired_ of _you_." His eyes widened and damn, it felt so _good_ to finally get that out and see _something_ cross that stupid, static face of his.

"I'm sick of you saving me. I'm sick of you _protecting _me. I'm sick of_ you_ sacrificing things for _me_ when you tell me not to do the _same damn thing_." He was rounding on him now, a random cooking utensil in his hand that didn't even _matter_ anymore. "I'm so tired of you _watching_ me. I can go for _two damn minutes_ without getting myself _killed_, and I'm tired of _you_ failing to realize that." Surprise flitted across his features briefly. "I'm tired of you surprising me like that, coming out of _nowhere_ just to loom over me while I'm _working_ on something!

"I'm tired of _you_ caring so much about _me._" He was waving the utensil too close to Doumeki's face now. "I'm tired of you _trying_ so hard for me." It felt unfinished. The archer sat silently. Patiently waiting. Waiting for more. It was obvious now.

"AND I AM SO GOD DAMNED TIRED OF _YOU_ TAKING ALL OF THIS BULLSHIT FROM ME _WITHOUT ONE WORD_." That was what it was missing. He grabbed the stupid dough and shoved the entire bowl onto Doumeki's head, effectively blocking his vision as he dragged him to the door and threw him out. He left it open and stood there for a moment to see if maybe he'd get up and hit him back, but he sat there dazedly, almost obediently. It was disgusting.

Watanuki slammed the door as hard as he could.

* * *

It was originally going to end cuddly.

In fact, there wasn't even going to be all of this yelling and confrontation of anger and whatnot.

However, I went to the movie theater and something that happened there sort of pissed me off.

I was still kind of angry when I got back, and that spawned this.

I usually write fluff. This feels weird.


	22. Count

**Fandom:** XXXHOLiC  
**Characters:** Watanuki Kimihiro, Doumeki Shizuka  
**Theme: **22 – Count  
**Warnings/Ratings:** None, again.  
**In A Nutshell:** Of course Yuuko would be such good friends with a _vampire_.**  
Disclaimer:** I own Holic. I also own three little alien babies and a unicorn, along with my personal favorite, the huge, 50-foot dragon in my backyard. Which is to say, no I don't own it.

When he'd introduced himself, Watanuki had blinked once, then twice, then six or so times in a quick succession, although it wasn't like Doumeki was counting or anything. The archer had then turned back to their generous host, whom he was more than wary of. He really couldn't believe he was calmly having green tea sitting across a table from Count Dracula. Yuuko, he thought, put them into much more trouble than it was worth for a trinket. He sipped the tea and hoped desperately that it wasn't poisoned or drugged or anything else similarly incapacitating.

Of course Yuuko would be such good friends with a _vampire_.

* * *

How short. 

This was one of the ones written a while ago.

I was having fun thinking of all of the different uses of words, and Count Dracula popped into my head.

What a strange brain I have.

That last line is because Yuuko is sort of like a vampire herself, isn't she?


	23. Silence

**Fandom:** XXXHOLiC  
**Characters:** Watanuki Kimihiro, Doumeki Shizuka  
**Theme:** 23 - Silence  
**Warnings/Ratings:** None.  
**In A Nutshell:** Doumeki prided himself on the fact that although he shared the power to send Watanuki into a shrieking rage with Yuuko, he alone had to power to silence him for at least a minute.**  
Disclaimer:** Don't own it.

Doumeki prided himself on the fact that although he shared the power to send Watanuki into a shrieking rage with Yuuko, he alone had to power to silence him for at least a minute.

The first time, he'd grabbed one of the always-flailing hands in a vice grip and continued walking the now-silent boy to work, except that had only lasted for as long as he had been utterly shocked by it. Then he'd started pulling and screaming about rape or something and when Doumeki had let go, Watanuki's hand ended up smacking its owner in the face. Ah, life was good.

The second time he'd grabbed both of his hands. Kunogi babbled about how it was a great testament to their friendship that they were holding hands or something, and a few seconds after this seemed to register in his brain and oh, how he flailed and screeched. Doumeki was sure other people would ask him if he was torturing cats at lunch. He let go of the hands and Watanuki's entire body went flying. Sometimes he wished he brought a video camera everywhere he went.

The third time, they were on one of Yuuko's jobs and Watanuki was whining about how unbearably _cold_ it was. He was just _asking_ for it, so he enveloped the smaller boy in a hug. It shut him up for a good two minutes or so, until he started screaming, which was thankfully muffled by Doumeki's chest. The archer pointed out that he had been complaining about the cold and now he shouldn't be so he could shut up now. He didn't quite shut up but he wasn't screaming anymore, either, and he wasn't struggling. Doumeki considered this to be a victory.

The fourth time was difficult. Watanuki was at the temple, studying with him, and somehow ended up yelling loudly. By this time, Doumeki had exhausted a lot of his options, figuring the same trick wouldn't work more than once. Then he decided to brutally massacre two birds with one stone, whipping Watanuki around violently to face him and kissing him without hesitation.

It's easy to imagine the noise _he_ made when Watanuki started kissing him back.

* * *

Got lots of work done today. 

Well, sort of.

School starts Monday.

Argh.


	24. Mirror

**Fandom:** XXXHOLiC  
**Characters:** Watanuki Kimihiro, Doumeki Shizuka  
**Theme:** 24 - Mirror  
**Warnings/Ratings:** CAPSLOCK!Spam and parentheses that will make your brain explode.  
**In A Nutshell:** It was, he figured, all the mirror's fault.**  
Disclaimer:** Still don't own it.

The night that Watanuki was forced (FORCED! FORCED! NO FREE WILL INVOLVED!) to stay at Doumeki's temple due to a typhoon was a highly uncomfortable one. It was simply too _quiet_. They were also all alone, Doumeki's parents being god-knows-where for the weekend and leaving him behind. This struck Watanuki as extremely irresponsible (BUT ONLY BECAUSE WITH A NEADERTHAL LIKE DOUMEKI BEING LEFT ALONE HE WOULD HAVE TO COOK FOR HIMSELF AND HE MIGHT SET THE WHOLE PLACE ON FIRE AND _NO_ HE DIDN'T CARE ABOUT THE BIG PILE OF _IDIOT_ CATCHING FIRE, IT'S JUST THAT PEOPLE OTHER THAN THAT _ABOMONATION_ MIGHT DIE, TOO, AND IF DOUMEKI DIED HE'D HAVE TO DEAL WITH HIS STUPID SPIRIT ARRRRGH) but there was nothing he could do about it so he just accepted it.

After Watanuki had cooked them dinner (WHICH WASN'T THAT GREAT CONSIDERING THAT THEY ONLY HAD REALLY UNHEALTHY STUFF AND HE REALLY HAD TO DIG THROUGH A LOT TO FIND SOMETHING ACCEPTABLE AND _NO_ HE DIDN'T CARE ABOUT DOUMEKI'S HEALTH, HE HAD HIS CULINARY PRIDE TO THINK ABOUT, DAMMIT, NOT TO MENTION THAT THE WEATHER HAD KNOCKED THE LIGHTS OUT AND HE HAD TO COOK BY CANDLE LIGHT AND IT WAS LUCKY THAT THEY HAD A GAS STOVE OR HE WOULD HAVE JUST LET DOUMEKI _STARVE_, HE REALLY WOULD HAVE), they went to Doumeki's room, where he tried to teach him to play mahjong, but the smaller boy ended up too frustrated and kicked the tiles across the floor. Then the archer made him pick them all up alone and by the time he was done with _that_ all he wanted to do was sleep.

He collapsed on Doumeki's futon while the taller boy was busy procuring another futon. As he was laying there he noted that it smelled really calming and comforting (AND NO, NOT BECAUSE THAT _CRETIN'S_ SMELL WAS ALL OVER IT, IT WAS PROBABLY JUST THE INSCENCE AND THAT''S _IT_) and he was asleep before he could even attempt waiting until Doumeki had gotten back with the futon.

It was, he figured, all the mirror's fault. The huge thing was just _standing there_ in the hallway, and he couldn't help but get the feeling it was _watching_. Watching whom for what reason, he wasn't sure, but that didn't change the fact that it was still there, though it may have been without purpose. This mirror was obviously to blame for everything (although this contradicted the universal rule that everything was Doumeki's fault).

He was standing in a pretty normal room, well-lit, nothing creepy, rather open, with many windows. In fact, the only thing particularly conspicuous about it was the total lack of furniture. There were so many windows, and he knew they were there, but he didn't look out of them. Instead, he was looking at Doumeki, who had placed himself directly in front of him.

"Doumeki, you obtrusive troglodyte, what the hell are you doing?" That was what he was _going_ to say but after the, "Doumeki," part he'd realized that Doumeki was talking at the same time as him. He tried talking again. "Doumeki, you foul beast, are you _mocking_ me?" Doumeki only mouthed the words on time with him. He reached out his right hand, possibly to shake him until he forgot his own name, but then saw Doumeki reaching out his left hand. Watanuki saw the scar on the palm and quickly withdrew his own palm to examine it. It, too, had a scar on it.

Knowing how surprised he looked, he glanced up at mirror-Doumeki (because now it was obvious that this was a mirror), seeing if he looked surprised. Of course he didn't; even if it _was_ a mirror he wouldn't let that force him into having an expression, God forbid _that_. And suddenly, he was being drawn towards the mirror. It must have been mirror-Doumeki's turn to do something, but he couldn't really think about that because he was still getting _closer_ and Watanuki closed his eyes, anticipating the touch of glass, of lips, it didn't really matter at this point, nothing seemed to matter-

He jolted awake, almost vaulting off of the futon. He would have, too, if it weren't for the fact that he had _Doumeki's arms around him_. He had to admit, he was really strong, because even _while he was sleeping_ Watanuki couldn't get out of his grip. He was a pretty hard sleeper, too, considering the fact that Watanuki had gone so far as to _bite_ him and he still wouldn't let go. He gave it up, it wasn't worth the struggle (AND _NO_ HE DIDN'T GIVE UP BECAUSE IT WAS SLIGHTLY COMFORTABLE AND REASSURING, HE REALLY COULDN'T GET OUT OF THE _DIRTY BASTARD'S _GRIP AND _SO WHAT_ IF MAYBE HE HAD TASTED GOOD WHEN HE'D BITTEN HIM AND HE WOULDN'T MIND DOING IT AGAIN, HE STILL WASN'T JEALOUS WHEN IT STRUCK HIM THAT IN HIS DREAM DOUMEKI WAS PROBABLY HOLDING SOME _GIRL_, BECAUSE HE WAS HOLDING WATANUKI IN REALITY, SO HAH, YOU DREAM TRAM- OH GOD _DAMN_ IT). He did admit that not even getting the extra futon because Watanuki had already fallen asleep was a slightly underhanded (_REALLY_ UNDERHANDED) thing to do, but he couldn't say he minded too much (AND NO IT WAS NOT JUST BECAUSE THAT WAS WHY HE WAS IN HIS ARMS NOW, DAMMIT… THAT WASN'T EVEN PART OF THE REASON! ARRRGH).

Sunlight was streaming through the windows, the weak, early-morning kind, and suddenly, very, very suddenly, he had to know. He grabbed Doumeki's left hand and sure enough, there was a thin line of scar tissue almost identical to what was on his own hand. Just for comparison's sake, he pressed it against his own. Yep. Almost exactly the same. The same… but different. So quickly he couldn't even think, Doumeki's fingers curled around his own and his hand was being drawn up and behind him to Doumeki's face.

Before he could realize exactly what was going on, he felt his hand pressed against a set of lips. He didn't have the willpower to take his hand away after the lips had let the word, "Watanuki," come tumbling out so happily. His heart was racing (NOT FROM THE KISS HE'D JUST GOTTEN ON HIS HAND BUT FROM THE ADRENALINE ALREADY BUILDING UP AND PREPARING HIM FOR KICKING DOUMEKI'S SORRY _ASS_ WHEN THE OAF WOKE UP, NOT BECAUSE HE CARED ABOUT DOUMEKI'S SLEEPING OR ANYTHING, IT WAS JUST IMPOLI-) so he told the shrieking, creepy voice that talked in third person in his head to just sod off for a good while (JUST YOU WAIT UNTIL YOU'RE ANGSTY AND INTROSPECTIVE A FEW HOURS FROM NOW, I SWEAR TO GOD) and snuggled up to Doumeki, resolute on finding more adjectives to describe his asshole-ish-ness later and simply enjoying himself now.

* * *

I wrote this a while ago. 

I had actually realized not too long before that in the manga, Doumeki and Watanuki should have mirror image scars.

Watanuki's would be from grabbing that glass in the scene with the spider-prostitute-lady, and Doumeki's would be from grabbing the razor blade that the crazy girl was whipping around.

I'm lame, aren't I?

Sigh.


	25. Song

**Fandom:** XXXHOLiC  
**Characters:** Watanuki Kimihiro, Doumeki Shizuka  
**Theme:** 25 - Song  
**Warnings/Ratings:** None…  
**In A Nutshell:** However, the dusting-and-being-in-the-temple-when-he-shouldn't-be bit was less shocking than the fact that he was _singing_.**  
Disclaimer:** Not planning on owning it any time soon…

Pulling off his shoes, he walked warily towards the room the noise was coming from. Nobody should be here at this hour, should they? Bow in hand, he peered into the room.

Watanuki was in there, dusting. However, the dusting-and-being-in-the-temple-when-he-shouldn't-be bit was less shocking than the fact that he was _singing_.

He was an awful singer, out of tune, out of key, everything, but it was so much better than yelling. That, and whatever song he was singing seemed to be making him happy. He was flitting around the room, smiling.

"Oi." He froze immediately, turning around to face Doumeki and… blushing? Yep, blushing.

"Er… well." He fidgeted. "Yuuko said that I should do more than just making food for you so she sent me over here to clean for you."

"Ah."

"I'm sorry for inviting myself in, but…" Apparently unable to finish this sentence, he simply turned back to the shelf and continued dusting.

"So what is it you were singing?" The blush deepened.

"You heard that?" Doumeki nodded. He buried his head in his hands, cheeks a lovely crimson color attained through sheer embarrassment. "Just a song." He busied himself with dusting the same shelf he'd been dusting for the past three minutes or so.

"What, was it a love song or something?" As far away as he was, he could almost feel the heat from the smaller boy's face. Yep, definitely a love song.

"My mother used to sing it while she was working." There was obviously more to this story than he was letting on. Uninterrupted, Watanuki continued, "Once, my father took her hand and spun her around. They started dancing and somehow she was singing the entire time." He smiled sadly, "It only ever happened once. Isn't that strange?" He wasn't expecting an answer to his question, and he didn't get one.

However, he did get a pull on his unoccupied hand moments later.

"Would you like to dance?"

* * *

I suppose I'm back to stories that are so fluffy as to be indigestible. 

Ahwell.


	26. Shower of Stars

**Fandom:** XXXHOLiC  
**Characters:** Watanuki Kimihiro, Doumeki Shizuka, Ichihara Yuuko  
**Theme:** 26 – Shower of Stars  
**Warnings/Ratings:** There's maybe a "bastard" thrown in somewhere.  
**In A Nutshell:** Stars were falling, it seemed.**  
Disclaimer:** I don't own Holic. It's been a while since I've said that in a full sentence.

"Is there something to celebrate other than irritating me?" The twins seemed saddened by this response, but Mokona continued throwing the star-shaped pieces of confetti at his head. Instead of ripping the obnoxious creature to shreds as he so often wished to do, he went to Yuuko, who had probably drunk herself into a stupor by now.

"What's with the confetti?" It was probably her fault. It was always her fault.

"Tonight is a night of great revelations!" She slurred excitedly from the floor, where she was splayed out with several empty bottles of alcohol, smoking a pipe. Watanuki sighed, putting on his apron and brushing some of the shiny stuff out of his hair.

She let him off of work early under the condition that he take Doumeki with him to some dark, obscure, and faintly dangerous-sounding place. The directions she gave him to get to the place were insane and irrational, but he knew that there probably wasn't any other way to get to it. He also knew that she would have a way of knowing if he didn't drag the idiot with him, so drag he did. The idea of being in a dark, obscure, and faintly dangerous-sounding place with Doumeki was quite scary, but not as scary as the idea of being in a dark, obscure, and faintly dangerous-sounding place without Doumeki. What an impossible situation.

"What are we here for?"

"She said we would know it when we saw it. I swear, if she got any more subtle then she would stop talking and just communicate through smirks and giggles." He would have said more (much, much more) on that subject, but what they were there for had started and absolutely stunned him.

Stars were falling, it seemed. He could hear a weak weeping and guessed they weren't too happy about this new development. It was a little sad but it didn't really matter; this probably wasn't even in their reality, anyway.

It may have been a pretty sight, but he hated very much having to share it with Doumeki. He hated sharing _anything_ with the bastard as of late, after he had roused from unconsciousness to find the archer's tongue in his mouth. He had pretended to still be out, just to see what else would happen. Luckily, it wasn't much more than that or he would have had to injure the pervert grievously.

Yet if he wasn't here, the spirits would be. It was so humiliating that he needed him around like that. That was just it, wasn't it? He _needed _him. Damn it. Was this what Yuuko had meant about revelations? Damn it _all_.

"This doesn't really exist, does it?" The archer inquired.

"Probably has more to do with what you consider 'existing.'" The response was curt; it was always curt.

"Does that mean that we, at the moment, don't exist either?"

"Don't be stupid."

He needed him. He didn't have to love him or even _like_ him, he just _needed _him. God damn it.

* * *

This was... random. 


	27. Back of the Movie Theater

**Fandom:** XXXHOLiC  
**Characters:** Watanuki Kimihiro, Doumeki Shizuka, Kunogi Himawari  
**Theme:** 27 – Back of the Movie Theater  
**Warnings/Ratings:** Uh… none.  
**In A Nutshell:** The movie producers didn't quite know the real method of dispelling evil, and it was a crappy ending in the first place, but he was rather content with his trip to the movie theater.**  
Disclaimer:** I don't own Holic.

He was apprehensive about this, to say the least. He'd been absolutely ecstatic when Himawari-chan had invited him to the movie theater without Doumeki, but now he was worried. Himawari had wanted to see a horror movie (it was to be expected, what with her love of the bizarre), and those were always the worst. Still, he was pleased to at least be with her, even if the theater was packed and they had to sit in seats on the very back row.

It had started out fine, with a few spirits lingering on the edges of his vision as the lights dimmed. It had a common, unimaginative set-up; a cute girl alone in a house for the weekend. There were a few cheap scares at the beginning, but this only got a few more unpleasant things out. No, the really frightening things had begun to come out as the music came to a crushing crescendo and the hapless girl opened the closet door to reveal a very generic monster, nothing compared to the ones now worming around at his feet.

Ah, and here was the running scene, placed into the movie for the sole purpose of allowing men to shamelessly watch the lead female's breasts jiggling, except the spirits seemed to like this scene as well, seeing as they were now rubbing on him and _oozing_ with the glee they attained from that. A hand, so pale, reached for his throat. Well, this sucked. He was going to die in the back of a movie theater. How anticlimactic.

Then there was a hand on his shoulder and a Doumeki sitting himself in the seat to his right, his bow clacking against the floor as he set it down. How had he gotten _that_ in here? Well, it didn't really matter; what did matter was that he was safe now. He clung to Doumeki's arm stupidly. He had come so close to dying today, but he was always coming too close to dying. He cuddled with the arm, not really caring that it was attached to the world's biggest jerk or that said jerk was smirking at him for it. Nor did he care that he was going to miss the rest of the movie with his head buried into the archer's arm; he already knew the ending. The girl's crush from earlier in the movie was going to save her sometime soon, and they would dispel all of the evil in the house together.

The movie producers didn't quite know the real method of dispelling evil, and it was a crappy ending in the first place, but he was rather content with his trip to the movie theater. At least he hadn't died.

* * *

Right, so this is the last one of the (day? night?).

Just a forewarning, I will not be doing insane updating like this during the school year.

The updates will more likely be insanely sparse.


	28. An Overflowing Cup

**Fandom:** XXXHOLiC  
**Characters:** Watanuki Kimihiro, Doumeki Shizuka  
**Theme: **28 –An Overflowing Cup  
**Warnings/Ratings:** None.  
**In A Nutshell:** It was at times like this that Watanuki truly, genuinely despised Yuuko.**  
Disclaimer:** I don't own Holic. You should know this by now.

His hands were shaking so much that he could barely pour the tea. It was at times like this that Watanuki truly, genuinely despised Yuuko.

They were both still whole but much worse for wear, Watanuki sporting some deep, unattractive claw marks on his arm and Doumeki having a few more of these than the smaller boy did. It wasn't worth the injury for the strange painting Yuuko had wanted.

"Are you okay?" He actually sounded concerned, a nice change from his usual impassiveness.

"Of course I…" he actually wasn't sure how to end that. "Why wouldn't I be okay?" Doumeki merely gestured to his teacup, which was now overflowing and spilling tea all over the tablecloth. He was too tired to even yell about it, so he simply retrieved a hand towel from the kitchen and sopped up the mess. When he was finished, he lay down on the floor exhaustedly.

"Are you okay?" Again. He glanced up at Doumeki, who actually_ looked_ concerned now. It was nice that he cared.

"I'm fine. I'm good." He flashed him a brief, weary smile, stunning him, before he rolled over onto his side and fell asleep.

Doumeki sighed; now he'd have to carry the idiot to bed. But at least this way he wouldn't protest about the cuddling.

* * *

Sorry, only one story tonight.

School tomorrow.

I'm not even remotely prepared.

By the way, does it bother anyone when I reply to your reviews?

Just wondering.

See you soon, then.


	29. Etched in Ice

**Fandom:** XXXHOLiC  
**Characters:** Watanuki Kimihiro, Doumeki Shizuka  
**Theme:** 29 – Etched in Ice  
**Warnings/Ratings:** None.  
**In A Nutshell:** All of this is what has ascertained that even if the thwacking is not going to do anything to my freezing exoskeleton, that silly name and that silly boy will forever be etched into the ice of my heart.**  
Disclaimer:** Don't own it. Sigh.

Watanuki Kimihiro is an appropriately silly name for the silly boy it belongs to.

I can't help but be attracted to something as thoroughly amusing as that. His insane antics are unrivaled in entertainment value, and just when I thought I had frozen myself up forever, this idiot came barreling in and started thwacking at my frosty demeanor.

The most amusing part of watching Watanuki is perhaps the way he flaps his arms when he's disgruntled, as if he's trying to fly. I sometimes wonder how strong his arms must be to be able to do such a thing for so long, and I sometimes foolishly fear that someday he _will_ just fly up and away, right in the middle of one of his rants.

The most annoying part of watching Watanuki is how _loud_ he can get. My ears have adapted to the utter silence within my home, but he is anything _but _silence. Watanuki is noise incarnate, and I'll be lucky not to be deaf by twenty.

The best part, though, is observing him all flushed and pouting when he can't think of anything else to berate me about but wants to send out the message that he is still angry and has _not_, under _any_ circumstances, lost the pseudo-battle.

All of this is what has ascertained that even if the thwacking is not going to do anything to my freezing exoskeleton, that silly name and that silly boy will forever be etched into the ice of my heart.

* * *

Okay, so.

This was a foray into a very different world of writing for me.

Firstly, it's in first person, which like. Makes my brain want to combust. Secondly, it's in present tense, which is not fun.

But eh, it didn't sound right in past tense.

Anyways, thanks for your patience with me, everyone, and a big thanks to angelofplottwists for both encouraging me to go out of my comfort zone like this as well as dedicating a lovely piece of work towards me!

I've already got the next chapter written, which means...

YAY! MORE FANFICTION. Okay, sorry.


	30. Torn Socks

**Fandom:** XXXHOLiC  
**Characters:** Watanuki Kimihiro, Doumeki Shizuka  
**Theme:** 30 – Torn Socks  
**Warnings/Ratings:** Strange OOC. I mean, it's creepy. Seriously. And some questionable words?  
**In A Nutshell:** With the air of someone who was not very preoccupied with the world that was actually around them, Doumeki said, "I wonder if you're ticklish."**  
Disclaimer:** …I actually don't own any literary characters… I have a lot of books, though…

Watanuki had been so busy running from whatever the hell it was that had gotten through his wards that he'd forgotten to put on shoes. He thanked existent and non-existent gods alike that it was only early evening so it probably wouldn't be too much of a problem for Doumeki to – oh _damn it all_. He didn't really like the idea of getting Doumeki's help, but he didn't really have a choice. Yuuko's assistance was much too costly, and was that thing _catching up_? He increased his speed, hoping to outrun the leviathan before he got to the temple. As it was, he had no such luck and ended up pounding on Doumeki's door and hoping to all aforementioned gods that his parents didn't open the door.

It opened so quickly that before he knew it, he was beating on Doumeki's chest. Any other day this would have elated him, beating on Doumeki, but not today of all days. "There'sthisthingchasingmeitgotthroughmywardsandit'smassivesoI'mgonnaneedyourhelp." With that, he collapsed at Doumeki's feet and pointed out the direction the beast-thing was in. Doumeki pulled a bow out of nowhere (no, really, where the hell had he hidden that thing?) and shot the spirit. Watanuki looked over his shoulder for assurance that it was gone and after discerning that it was, he mumbled a half-hearted, "Thanks," and turned around to leave.

Then, of course, a hand clamped down on his shoulder like the mouth of the horrible beast-thing he'd just escaped and he mentally kicked himself for thinking it was going to be that easy. "Where are your shoes?"

"I was sort of in a hurry," he explained, half-embarrassedly. He realized now that there were holes at the bottoms of his socks from running on pavement in them. _Damn it_.

Doumeki had already headed back into the house. "Come in for a second."

Not really being in a position or having the desire to refuse, he meekly followed the taller boy in. He was forced into a chair while Doumeki made tea. Watanuki put his feet up on another chair and lounged, pondering what to do with his torn socks. Doumeki returned with two cups of steaming liquid, placing them gently on the table.

"Careful, it's hot," he reminded Watanuki, who pouted a little at being treated like a child. "So, what exactly happened?"

"I don't know," he said, blowing onto his tea absentmindedly, hoping to cool it down, "it got through my wards and sort of glommed onto me while I was distracted with my homework. So, of course, I did the thing I, sadly, do best. I ran." He looked forlornly at his poor, abused socks. "I was too worried about my life to worry about my socks." He doubted Doumeki had heard even half of his lamenting over the socks because of how intently he was staring at Watanuki's feet.

With the air of someone who was not very preoccupied with the world that was actually around them, Doumeki said, "I wonder if you're ticklish."

"Oh no. No, no, no." Watanuki was about to make a run for it when Doumeki got out of his seat and _sat on him_, preventing his departure and holding him still for the tickling agony he was about to unleash upon him. He pulled off the battered socks slowly and torturously.

This was going to be hell.

…

He had actually passed hell some time ago and was now starting to miss it, seeing as he was now heading into a no-man's-land of uncharted unhappiness. He looked at Doumeki again, still floored by the fact that he was _still_ displaying no emotion. Normally, people laughed and smile and acted _joyful_ when they were tickling people, right? He looked as if he were conducting some experiment. _Then again_, Watanuki thought, if only to distract himself from his own downward-spiraling misery, _it would be even creepier if he __**was**__ smiling_. He shuddered at the thought and Doumeki almost smirked, thinking it was from his heinous tickling.

"Stooooop!" Watanuki whined for maybe the millionth time. Doumeki took it as if it were encouragement and pressed on with the tickling. "Reaaaallyyyyy! Stooooop! I'm seeeriouuus!" The archer found him half-hilarious and half-cute, whining like that. Of course, it had to click just _then_ why Doumeki wouldn't stop. "Pleeeeease?" He whimpered, looking up at him with puppy-dog eyes. _Shit_. How could you resist _that_?

Doumeki reluctantly got up off of Watanuki and led him over to where he kept his shoes. "Here," he said, throwing a pair of sandals at him and slipping a pair on himself. "You can wear those for now." Watanuki looked up at him dazedly, putting on the sandals and following Doumeki like a lost dog.

"But… my socks?" He had left the destroyed remnants of cloth at Doumeki's.

"I'll buy you a new pair," the response came, even though that wasn't what Watanuki really meant. He decided not to contest this, because hey, free socks.

As soon as Watanuki was inside his door, he handed the sandals to Doumeki, muttered a thanks and all but slammed the door in his face. He would've liked to just collapse onto his futon, but he still had too many things to get done. With a sigh he commenced working on his homework.

…

Doumeki had half-thrown the bag into his face. Watanuki was entirely surprised, not just because Doumeki had appeared out of _nowhere_ and shoved something in his face, but because he was pretty sure that _something_ was a pair of socks. The archer was already halfway down the hallway by the time the bag was opened, thankfully. Otherwise one of two things might have happened: 1.) Doumeki ending up with a face full of sock or 2.) Watanuki screeching directly into his ear canal. Watanuki's aim wouldn't be too good this far away from its target, he hoped, and he wouldn't want to damage even further his train-wrecked reputation by shrieking at him across the hallway for what would seem like no reason.

He seemed to know all of this, too, and resigned himself to attempting to rip the socks to shreds with his eyes, because he had to say that he just wasn't too fond of _pink_ socks with _glitter_ all over them.

* * *

Because the idea of Doumeki with a foot fetish was too much for me to resist, really.

I wrote this a really long time ago, sorry for the insanity!

See you soon, then!


	31. Spiral

**Fandom:** XXXHOLiC  
**Characters:** Watanuki Kimihiro, Doumeki Shizuka  
**Theme:** 31 - Spiral  
**Warnings/Ratings:** Uhm. Sleep-deprived insanity?  
**In A Nutshell:** Afraid, very, very afraid, he closed the spiral and turned to walk out of the door. Maybe even run. However, a strange thing happened; he ran into a very solid mass of being that smelled greatly of a certain idiot… Oh, it _was_ that certain idiot.**  
Disclaimer:** I've never really even created a good character of my own, how could I create two absolutely wonderful ones like Doumeki and Watanuki?

As far as notebooks went, it was highly average; its cover a shade of green created with the purpose of allowing it to blend in with all of the other insipid notebooks and its pages most likely filled with notes on the tedious lectures everyone sat through. However, there was something very important and very different about this spiral notebook, for it belonged to one unfathomable Doumeki Shizuka.

When he'd seen it laying dejectedly at the archer's desk, his first thought was to take it, find the doodles, and blackmail him with them, although it didn't really seem as if Doumeki would be the sort of person to draw flipbooks of people getting chased up and down pages by spirits like Watanuki did. He picked it up and eyed it suspiciously, but it did nothing when faced with his scrutiny. He hovered by the desk, flipping through the pages and entirely unsurprised at what he saw. There were pages and pages full of robotic writing without a single picture, although there were some abortive pen strokes here and there in the margins. He was a little disappointed that the guy was really just as boring as he seemed, at least up until he saw his name written plaintively in the margin – wait. _His_ name written in the margin.

That was… strange. Hesitantly he flipped on, growing increasingly alarmed as the amount of times he saw his name rose exponentially. The fact that there were about ten per page at this point did not strike him as bad as the alterations did. Watanuki baby, Watanuki honey, Watanuki darling, Wata-chan, but the worst of all was one he found on one of the last written-on pages; Doumeki Kimihiro. Afraid, very, very afraid, he closed the spiral and turned to walk out of the door. Maybe even run. However, a strange thing happened; he ran into a very solid mass of being that smelled greatly of a certain idiot… Oh, it _was_ that certain idiot.

When he'd adjusted his glasses he mumbled, "How long were you there?"

Doumeki shrugged, "A while."

"I'm… er…" I'm flattered but seriously disturbed? I'm sorry for reading your spiral? Unsure of how to finish his sentence, he left it hanging and hoped that Doumeki would take up the slack.

He didn't.

It was a long and unbearably awkward silence. Finally, surprisingly, the taller boy shattered the ice.

"What are you thinking?" He looked down impassively and Watanuki wondered just what sorts of things he was hiding behind that face.

"I… well… you see…" Even if it was something like someone falling in love with him, the laudably loud boy would find a reason to be angry about it. "GOD DAMN IT DOUMEKI. EVER THINK ABOUT CONFESSING TO GET IT OFF OF YOUR MIND INSTEAD OF DOING CREEPY STUFF LIKE THA-"

His rant was sliced short by two fingers being pressed to his lips.

"Quiet. We're at school." Watanuki rolled his eyes and pulled the offending digits off.

"That was just an excuse for you to molest me, right?" He was so shameless that he actually nodded yes. Watanuki was still angry, but decided to try a smarter approach to winning this.

He got very close to Doumeki's face, making him thoroughly uncomfortable and nearly unable to restrain himself.

"Ah, Doumeki…" The whisper glided gently over his face, begging him to move _forward_ already, yet still he made a valiant and triumphant stand against temptation. "This means I've won this time, doesn't it?"

With a chuckle, Watanuki pulled away and headed for the door. "Until you can properly confess and _stop butchering my name in your notebook_, that's about as close as you'll get."

The ascetic archer admitted defeat and began a new plan, heading outside to search for the perfect place…

* * *

Haven't been able to sleep lately.

I try but I can't.

I also have lots of things running around in my head, but I can't write them down.

Why?

At the moment, I literally cannot write.

My finger has been incapacitated by note-taking.

And I prefer to write stories on paper and then type them up, so... we'll just have to wait until I'm healed.

I'm not sure how that means Watanuki won, really...


	32. Love Me

**Fandom:** XXXHOLiC  
**Characters:** Watanuki Kimihiro, Doumeki Shizuka  
**Theme:** 32 – Love Me  
**Warnings/Ratings:** Nothing, I'm pretty sure.  
**In A Nutshell:** It was everything kisses on the cheek were not supposed to be, hard and a little wet, sloppy and lingering.**  
Disclaimer:** I can barely write a fanfiction, how am I supposed to write an original story like Holic?

I was irritated. If we blatantly ignore the fact that I am usually irritated, then we can all consider this, as I did (and still do!) to be a very bad thing. When I'm irritated, I tend to yell. A lot. And that's bad for my throat.

The source of my irritation was standing in front of me, looking more like some inexpressive statue than any human should. And if that was the case then God, I thought, was a terrible sculptor.

"Oi." My annoyance spread from my brain to my throat and was threatening to spill out in the form of violent phrases.

At least if I screamed at him, no one would hear me. Regrettably, Himawari-chan (ever the kind one!) was helping the English teacher (I never liked her much, old witch) and in a true Doumeki fashion, he'd dragged the both of us to a place so obscure I hadn't even seen it before, though it was on school grounds, and though that was highly suspicious in itself I didn't think too much on it. It was very beautiful, a great expanse of green with a few fragile wildflowers dispersed here and there. It was very beautiful, I'd decided, delicate and comfortable.

Also, very unlike the creep who had found it, said creep currently being on the receiving end of the most vicious glare I could make. It would greatly enhance things to have laser beams coming out of my eyes, but that is sadly out of the realm of possibility. I could ask Yuuko, but that would not be worth the cut to my paycheck.

"Oi." And there it was again, the one syllable I hated most in the world.

"Can I _help_ you?" My eyes narrowed in my attempt to make the glare seem more focused. "You already have your lunch, just sit down and shovel all of my hard work into your gaping black hole of a mouth already."

At this request he lowered himself to the ground, shoulder brushing mine. I leaned away from the touch, more than a little wary. After considering all of that insane stuff in his notebook last week, one of the numerous thoughts that had flitted through my mind in the past five minutes was that he had brought me here, wherever here was, to jump me. It was a little irrational and improbable, but I'd recently discovered that the idiot's predictable expression only made him an unpredictable person.

He stared blankly into the air in front of him, but I honestly didn't see anything _that_ interesting in that direction. Ignoring his unsurpassable idiocy, I continued to eat, noting that Doumeki had yet to touch his food.

"Is there something wrong? With the food?" I'd added the last part in so he'd be assured that I didn't care about _him_.

"Too much salt." Before I could even open my mouth to inform him that I knew damn well he hadn't even opened the lid yet, he turned to me.

I've never believed all of those stories where you can see emotions in people's eyes, but this was about as close as I got to becoming a believer. It seemed that he was being very serious, I could see that, and there was a mixture of weariness and relief somewhere in there as well.

"You can probably guess why we're here…" Contrary to his statement, I was actually clueless, though not without a few theories. "I'm sure you wouldn't be appeased if I were to simply _show_ you, so I suppose I'll have to _tell_ you." Had he gotten a new puppy or something? That was great and all, but mighty awkward for a strong, silent type like him, not to mention revealing this sort of thing would take a good amount less gravity than what was now hanging in the ai- "Watanuki, I like you. I know you probably know this, but…"

Bastard, always interrupting me, even interrupting my own _thoughts_ – oh, wait, was that a confession?

The possibility of getting jumped suddenly became a great deal less fuzzy than it had been moments prior.

"…You said you wanted a proper confession." He shrugged and commenced eating. He'd stolen three pieces of sushi from my lunch before I could formulate a response.

"Does this mean you… love me or something?" He chewed a bit of the filched food thoughtfully.

"I don't know. Maybe." He went back to eating my food as I was distracted by the fact that he could answer such an important question so flippantly. Not really knowing what to say, I turned to the ever-present option of glowering ferociously at him.

Slapping his hand away, I growled, "Stop stealing my food. I'm skinny enough as it is."

"Ah, but that's what makes you so pretty." He poked me in the cheek with the chopsticks he'd just had in his food, and before I could even decide whether to rage about the comment or the action first, a bell rang in the distance.

Doumeki hastily threw the food that had survived his first raid into his mouth and quickly closed the box, which was tossed at me and ended up colliding with my arm.

Then, quickly and without hesitation, he grabbed my head and crushed my cheek against his mouth. It was everything kisses on the cheek were not supposed to be, hard and a little wet, sloppy and lingering. He pulled away quickly, a huffing noise that could have been a chuckle escaping his throat.

"That," he said, "is all you're going to get until you give me an answer." With those eloquent words, he cantered off. I couldn't even get angry properly, because what is possibly the only sensible voice in my head informed me matter-of-factly that unless I could fly, thanks to the stupid place that Doumeki had brought me, I would be arriving to class late.

Snatching at the bento boxes along with my half-formed rage, I sprinted to school, ending up at class panting and perhaps a little sweaty but at least not late. I dropped into my seat exhaustedly; this was only one more thing I would add to the list of "Wrongdoings to Break Various Appendages of Doumeki For" that was currently being composed within my head. I figured that once it got to thirty I'd take a crowbar to his leg, but every time Doumeki saved my sorry ass I'd have to subtract one thing from this list and sadly, the incident that was lunch had brought me out of debt.

Adding insult to all of this injury was the usually-helpful Himawari-chan, who kindly informed me there was a bit of rice stuck to my cheek.

I was halfway to sleep that night when I'd realized that Doumeki had implied I wanted to kiss him.

The world, I decided at this point, was entirely damnable.

* * *

I'm soooooo sorry this took so long! 

The weekend after such a hectic week of school made me want to relax as much as I could.

I'm feeling much better than I was as the end of the week!

Sadly, I've only gotten two written, and that is most likely all that will be up for a while.

All of this first person is weird...


	33. Hate Me

**Fandom:** XXXHOLiC  
**Characters:** Watanuki Kimihiro, Doumeki Shizuka  
**Theme:** 33 – Hate Me  
**Warnings/Ratings:** Um. Major fluff. And themes are never actually the theme of the story with me, it makes me feel a little stupid...  
**In A Nutshell:** "Wait." He stilled. "Stay. For now. Just for a while."**  
Disclaimer:** I don't own Holic.

It made me a little righteously angry that it had been a week and Watanuki hadn't said _anything_. Oh, he'd talked and flailed and we'd even had a civil, albeit short, conversation at one point in time, but none of this mattered. What _did_ matter was that the fool hadn't said even one thing about my confession.

It was aggravating, as he was the one who had taunted me into confessing and now didn't even grace it with an answer. In a stunning display of logic, I decided I was going to have to force him to say something about it.

At lunch, I dragged him over to the same place I'd confessed, and, sensing my intentions, he protested loudly. Ignoring this, I continued to pull him towards the shade of a tree, sitting and yanking him down to sit next to me.

I decided it would be easier if I didn't hesitate. "Watanuki, how do you feel?" He flushed.

"About what?" He was stalling, hoping I wouldn't have the gall to say it aloud.

He'd hoped wrong.

"How do you feel about _me_?" I said, not skipping a beat and thoroughly intimidating him. He was painted a deeper shade of red.

"It's… complicated." He wouldn't look me in the eyes.

"Do you really hate me?" I couldn't stop myself from asking, just as I couldn't help myself from adding, "It's okay if you do. If that's what you need, someone to hate, then hate me all you want."

He turned to me, chagrin evident in his narrowed eyes. "Are you stupid? Why would you say something like that to someone you… like?" I shrugged; anything else I could say would scare him off and ruin all of my chances.

An uncomfortable silence ensued, making him squirm around a little.

"Look, I don't hate you, okay?" My usually relatively stagnant heart gave a small flutter. "On a good day, I might even like you." Fluttering turned into pounding. "It's just too confusing." Happiness had crept up and currently had me in a stranglehold. He closed his eyes and leaned back on the sturdy tree trunk. Finally, I thought, I would get my kiss. I leaned in eagerly, closing my eyes, and collided painfully with coarse bark.

Watanuki, standing about a meter away and for once towering above me, chuckled. "You really think I wouldn't have seen _that_ coming?"

I stood up hastily, reaching for him. He laughed even more as he danced out of the reach of my grasp. Then he was off, running at full speed, giggles spilling from his mouth.

Well.

It was only reasonable for me to chase him. Thankfully, my presence in the last few months meant he hadn't had to run from anything malicious in a while, thus he was slightly out of shape. I caught him, tackling him to the ground, then turning him face up and sitting on his legs. Instead of struggling to get up as I'd expected him to do, he put his arms under his head and closed his eyes lazily.

If that wasn't an invitation, then what was?

I drew closer and closer, and he didn't even open his eyes. Maybe _that_ wasn't exactly what I wanted.

I lay my head on Watanuki's shoulder, bringing my arms under and around him. He dragged his hands from under his head and combed them through my hair, the repetitive movement relaxing, lulling me into a sense of comfort I hadn't felt in a long time.

This, surely, was what I wanted.

The bell rang and Watanuki withdrew his hands, attempting to get up.

"Wait." He stilled. "Stay. For now. Just for a while." He lay back down on the grass and resumed petting my hair.

"You're heavy," he murmured with none of the usual contempt, "I can't feel my legs."

It didn't take long to fall asleep.

We missed the rest of our classes.

* * *

It's so easy to write about people missing classes, but I myself would never do it so flippantly. 

See you soon, hopefully!


	34. Spare Me

**Fandom:** XXXHOLiC  
**Characters:** Watanuki Kimihiro, Doumeki Shizuka  
**Theme:** 34 – Spare Me  
**Warnings/Ratings:** Uh. Wow, nothing, really. May be a little difficult to read, though.  
**In A Nutshell:** "GOD! IT'S OKAY FOR YOU TO BLABBER ON TO ME ABOUT SELF WORTH BUT THE MOMENT I EVEN ATTEMPT TO GET PREACHY ON YOU, YOU SAY SOMETHING WEIRD LIKE _THAT_! I GIVE UP."**  
Disclaimer:** I don't own Holic.

Doumeki had invited himself in while Watanuki was cooking dinner for himself so that when Watanuki walked out of the kitchen, plate in hand and prepared to eat, he'd nearly dropped his meal at the sight of the archer sitting at the table, papers spread about him. His face displayed a not-expression of uncaring concentration, and if Watanuki hadn't been so ravenous and fatigued, he'd have hit him.

As it was, he could barely think straight enough to say something to the effect of, "Argh, why are you here, go away, can I not get even two seconds of peace in my life," dropping to the floor with a sigh of defeat before Doumeki could even run half of the sentence through the machine in his head that translated the insanity that Watanuki spewed into something he could understand.

It was surprisingly silent as they ate, the smaller boy picking at his meal listlessly as the larger one didn't bother with hiding the fact that he was consuming the vast majority of the food. When the plate was relieved of its burden, Watanuki brought it to his kitchen and then sat down across from Doumeki again, pulling out his homework, intent upon working on it until he realized that he somehow didn't have a pencil.

"Doumeki, could you spare me a pencil?" When the other boy didn't say anything, he was sure he'd been denied, but a pencil was rolling to him from the other side of the table and the archer was rummaging about his bag for another one. Apparently he'd given him the one he'd been using. That was stupid.

They worked quietly until the smaller boy realized that he had left his English book at school. Though he despised asking for aid again, he looked over at his "rival." "Do you think I could use your English book?" Then, realizing that Doumeki was in the process of using it, he tacked on, "When you're finished with it," but the book had already slid across the table and the archer was somehow working out some equations now. Watanuki looked at him crossly for being such an idiot, but had no choice but to use it as he needed it so badly.

When he had finished, he slid it back to the idiot, who looked at it for a moment, then looked back at his neatly-printed numbers once more.

It was still and silent, but not oppressively so, and after Doumeki had finished his work, he had sat around and stared at Watanuki like the creep that he was until he was kicked out for being such a creep.

Before the irate boy slammed the door on him he muttered, "See you tomorrow," and Watanuki sincerely hoped that was not the case because tomorrow was his day off and that would be like exchanging one form of harassment for another.

Doumeki stayed true to his words and Watanuki disliked him greatly for it. This time he had brought some magazines and was lounging around on the couch as the smaller boy bustled about, doing his chores and ignoring the body on his sofa entirely. When he had finished everything, he hovered near the furniture the archer was draped on as if he were pondering how exactly to sit on it without having them touch, but Doumeki wasn't exactly helping so he reluctantly sat somewhere on the taller boy's legs, very near his lap, to the archer's immense enjoyment.

"Could I borrow one of those?" The sat-on handed the sitter the one he had been perusing and reached for a different one. Watanuki narrowed his eyes in agitation at the display of generosity and snapped the reading material open roughly. It was weird that he kept doing things like that.

After testing this newfound anomaly by requesting several odd items, he came to the conclusion that he could very easily use Doumeki. Granted, it was something he would never do to anyone, but that didn't mean he wouldn't be able to.

"Doumeki, do you think I could borrow a yukata?"

The next day, he had snuck into Watanuki's apartment while he was cooking again, a pale blue yukata in hand and no questions asked.

He'd handed the archer a note in class with a list of things he needed from the grocery store, wholly unsurprised to find him stealing into the apartment with two bags of groceries that evening.

He had made the requests more and more bizarre and was severely angered to find that the idiot would somehow fulfill every last one.

"Could you bring over some new wards?"

"Do you have any leeks at your house that you don't need?"

"You wouldn't happen to have any old hats, would you?"

"Have you got any red paint?"

Watanuki was very tired of how obliging Doumeki was being and wanted to show him how moronic he was being, coming up with the perfect unreasonable demand. This he sprung onto him as they were doing homework once again on a cool Wednesday evening.

"Could I have your soul?" The response came without hesitation, as Watanuki had known it would; a small nod that the archer hadn't even looked up from his papers for. It obviously didn't even register in his mind what he had just consented to giving the smaller boy, as he only continued writing.

"Do you even know what I just asked you? Do you even think at _all_ about the crazy things I've been asking you to get for me?" Doumeki raised his face, looking as amused as he could without changing his expression, and Watanuki knew that this was a very bad sign.

"What makes you think I didn't think about it?" The loud boy's jaw dropped visibly, a testament to the unending entertainment he provided.

"GOD! IT'S OKAY FOR YOU TO BLABBER ON TO ME ABOUT SELF WORTH BUT THE MOMENT I EVEN ATTEMPT TO GET PREACHY ON YOU, YOU SAY SOMETHING WEIRD LIKE _THAT_! I GIVE UP." Doumeki found the idea of this surrender too good to be true, and was proved to be correct by the heavy kick into his leg from under the table.

It was a funny give and take relationship that they had, but the taller boy thought as he was peeking up from his paper fleetingly to look at a flushed Watanuki who was muttering darkly under his breath, that there was probably nothing he would give it up for.

Except for Watanuki himself, maybe.

* * *

Agh. That was random and just. Blarg. 

I'm so sorry! I'm only going to be adding one chapter and it has to be this one, which is just. Blarg, right?

Okay, so I have a hypothetical question for you guys!

Let's say there was some crazy person sitting around at your local anime convention, bouncing around in a chair and wearing a nametag that says something to the effect of, "Zwip," who just so happens to be selling some books that just so happen to be fanfictions that it just so happens she will not be posting on the internet.

Let's also say that you happen to have some money that is not dedicated to buying other things.

Would you buy some of my fanfiction?

Especially if it had a pretty cover and I made puppy dog eyes at you from behind the table?

I'm just wondering if it would be an economical idea to attempt to market my work...

By the way (sorry this is going on so long...) if you have any criticisms about weak writing or anything like that, please don't hesitate to tell me!

I really need to be able to improve my writing, after all.

See you soon, hopefully!


	35. Your Indifference

**Fandom:** XXXHOLiC  
**Characters:** Watanuki Kimihiro, Doumeki Shizuka  
**Theme:** 35 – Your Indifference  
**Warnings/Ratings:** Not as slashy as I know you're wishing it would be.  
**In A Nutshell:** It was maddening and infuriating and absolutely wondrous.**  
Disclaimer:** I don't own Holic.

Watching Watanuki floss was highly frustrating, bordering on painful, but it was something he somehow could not look away from.

Ever since they were forced to move in together as starving college students, the weirdness around and between them had intensified greatly.

They had to share not only a cramped living space, but many other odds and ends as well. They used the same soap and shampoo, and there was an easily-ignored voice in Doumeki's head that said he liked the fact that Watanuki smelled like him far too much. At one high point of this hilarious low, they had even had to share a toothbrush, as the spirit-magnet's had been eaten by something and neither had time to buy a new one until the week was over. It took much effort on the taller boy's part to convince Watanuki that he need not boil the toothbrush before using it to make sure there were no Doumeki germs on it, and wouldn't that melt the plastic, anyway?

Watanuki was as loud as ever, sometimes causing the neighbors to complain to the police about possible domestic violence. That was a stupid thought, if you considered the fact that Doumeki spent more time on trying to _save _him than on anything else.

Sometimes, late at night when Watanuki thought he was sleeping, he would climb from under his sheets, kneel at Doumeki's side, and start talking softly to him. The archer had learned to pretend he was asleep, because these times were the only times he heard what that captivating enigma was really thinking.

Torturously rarely, on dark, long nights, Watanuki would tentatively crawl over to Doumeki's futon and slip under the covers, close enough for him to feel the warmth coming off of him but not close enough to be touching. It was maddening and infuriating and absolutely wondrous.

A lot of his time was spent watching the pale boy do everyday things, and that was how he had come to watching him floss. His movements were slow and it seemed he would be flossing forever. Even Doumeki, who meditated frequently and was rather trained in the art of waiting, was becoming impatient. Overtaken by this, he grabbed the floss from Watanuki and flossed his teeth _for_ him.

"Ooh oh, iss ort uh aggering ow oo ont are aout iss."

"How am I supposed to floss your teeth if you're trying to talk?"

There were no more garbled statements after that.

When Doumeki was satisfied with the state of the other boy's dental health, he disposed of the floss and lay down on his futon. The lights were out and a silence usually reserved for the sleeping had settled down thickly before Watanuki came crawling from his futon at last and dragged himself to Doumeki's side.

"You know, your indifference to such strange situations is staggering." He chuckled lightly, "But I don't mind." He ruffled the "sleeping" archer's hair in a way he never would in the daylight hours, then climbed under the sheets next to him. "It's nice being cared for." He was so close he could feel his breath and _damn_ if it wasn't tempting.

A few moments passed in silence, punctuated with another light chuckle and then replaced with heavy, even breathing.

It was all too easy to throw an arm over that thin torso and drag the body attached to it to his chest.

He probably didn't realize that Watanuki was pretty proficient at feigning sleep, too.

* * *

An update in the middle of the week! Be shocked! 

I actually wrote this in class on Monday and was too busy fluttering around doing other things to type it up until today.

I have so many ideas running around in my head right now.

Oh, by the way, thanks for all of the support!

It was really overwhelming to see all of the people who have added this to their favorites list recently.

Thank you so much!

I'll try to squeeze in more updates now that I'm getting more accustomed to school.

Until next time!


	36. Fortune Cat

**Fandom:** XXXHOLiC  
**Characters:** Watanuki Kimihiro, Doumeki Shizuka  
**Theme:** 36 –Fortune Cat  
**Warnings/Ratings:** Still not as slashy as you probably desire it to be.  
**In A Nutshell:** "I can be your luck."**  
Disclaimer:** I don't own Holic.

Large drops of water were falling from the branches above him and onto his head, but it was at least better than being out in the storm, though admittedly not by much.

The rain had struck spontaneously as he was walking home from Yuuko's shop, not even starting with the usual light drizzle but skipping straight to the painful pounding. The cold tore easily through the fabric of his school uniform, each drop of water like a knife to his skin.

Looking for shelter from the relentless rain, he had decided that the tree would have to suffice until he could actually see through his glasses. It was useless trying when they were coated with water. Still, it seemed he would have to find a way to warm up soon, as the shivers wracking his body were growing increasingly severe.

"OI." He could barely hear it over the sound of the rain beating against the ground, but he knew he hadn't imagined it.

He preferred the idea of imagining it, because if he hadn't then that meant that-

"_OI._" He could barely make out a large figure, walking towards him much too calmly to be in the middle of a torrential thunderstorm. Of course it could only be…

"DOUMEKI, WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING HERE?" The water had halted falling onto his head and he realized that there was an umbrella over him.

"Saving you from pneumonia," he replied casually as thunder roared off in the distance. Then he was pulling Watanuki by the arm and leading him towards a blob that resembled a very blurry temple. "Or maybe hypothermia," he tacked on thoughtfully as he continued to roughly drag him along.

Once inside the temple, Doumeki threw a towel and some dry clothes at him and walked out before he could think about watching him undress.

Watanuki huffed but accepted the aid grudgingly.

When he walked out of the room and found the archer, he was dragged down to the floor and had a heavy blanket draped over him. A cup of tea was thrust into his hands, nearly spilling and scalding him.

The stifling silence that ensued was shattered with a loud snapping noise. As Watanuki had a minor aneurysm, Doumeki serenely stood and investigated the source, which just so happened to be the tree that the spastic boy had been under not too long before.

More specifically, it was the violent bisection of the tree that Watanuki had just been standing under.

He turned back to him and sat again, the smirk on his face masking very well how shaken he was.

Watanuki looked up at him from his position, spread out on the floor. "Not a word. Not one word."

There was no way he could resist after _that_.

Sprawling himself out next to the agitated boy, he inquired, "Do you feel lucky?"

He snorted. "Obviously not."

"That's okay." He threw his arm out to stretch it, and it coincidentally landed on Watanuki's chest. "I can be your luck."

Another snort. "Don't be stupid."

"I'm not being stupid."

* * *

Because the first thing I could think of when I saw "fortune cat " was that one story where the cat is waving from within the temple and it just fit too perfectly.

So many reviews! Thank you so much for the support!

There are so many alliterations in here, it's creepy. Sometimes I do strange things like that accidentally.

Hopefully I will have a lot of stories posted this weekend, seeing as I've got vague ideas for almost every remaining theme, but there are a lot of other things I'd like to do as well.

Thanks once again for all the love (it made me melt when I checked my inbox this morning, you have no idea) and I'll be seeing you soon!


	37. Broken Clock

**Fandom:** XXXHOLiC  
**Characters:** Watanuki Kimihiro, Doumeki Shizuka, Ichihara Yuuko  
**Theme:** 37 –Broken Clock  
**Warnings/Ratings:** Everyone's done one. I had to do one too.  
**In A Nutshell:** Yes, a silent heart was just like a broken clock.**  
Disclaimer:** I don't own Holic.

Carrying Watanuki's broken body to Yuuko's shop was an experience that would haunt him for the rest of his life. There would be a way to help him, somehow, and to keep his mind off of what would happen if there was not, he tried to break everything down and rationalize it so that he could stop being so horribly, terrifyingly afraid.

A stilled heart, he reasoned as he panicked only slightly and quickened his pace, was just like a broken clock. They had kept time so diligently, and they would either wear out or have some trauma occur to them. Yes, a silent heart was just like a broken clock.

He hoped, breaking into a run as Watanuki's body began stiffening in his arms, that the repair of a heart was somehow also like the repair of a clock. If you know the right person, they could maybe replace some parts for a price. This person, if it were to be anyone, would be Yuuko. She could make him work again.

The house was just as he had expected, eclectic and much too large for one person and their compiled treasures, but he could muse on architecture when the world had commenced spinning again.

He knew, crossing the threshold, that this was the only place that could save Watanuki. He also knew that it was a place that no person should ever have to go to, filled with things that no person should ever have to get mixed up in.

As Yuuko outlined prices and fine details, he found he didn't care about the mechanics, as long as she could get him functioning again.

As long as he could hear the tick-tock beat of that heart again.

When all was said and done, he stole a glance at the slumbering Watanuki, found this to be insufficient, and approached him, leaning down to hear the thumping rhythm of his heart.

He then stumbled home in the dark, covered in blood and sincerely hoping that no police officers were out at this hour.

* * *

Okaaaaay, so maybe I lied about the possibility of many, many updates this weekend. 

Because all I have is this.

It's not that I didn't write anything.

To the contrary, I wrote a lot.

It's just mostly things in the upper forties.

I actually only have six left to write, isn't that a bit saddening?

Anyways, for a little fun, I was just curious as to how old you think I am.

I'm not going to affirm or deny your answers, but it's always so much fun to see how old people think I am.

See you soon, hopefully!


	38. Tied in a Bow

**Fandom:** XXXHOLiC  
**Characters:** Watanuki Kimihiro, Doumeki Shizuka  
**Theme:** 38 – Tied in a Bow  
**Warnings/Ratings:** It's short?  
**In A Nutshell:** Also, knowing him, he had made a rash decision to ensure Watanuki's state of living, and that was very bad, because Doumeki didn't make rash decisions often and when he did they were bound to be extremely stupid.**  
Disclaimer:** I don't own Holic.

The first thing he thought when he woke up was that it hurt. Then he recalled what had happened before he had blacked out, realizing that there were worse things to be than just in pain with that sort of incident, and he should probably be one of those things. The reason he wasn't…

Must have left some time ago, he realized as he scanned the room for the first time since he had awakened. There wasn't any mess anywhere to indicate what had happened, and he found it mildly interesting that the only thing that Yuuko would clean off of her floor was blood.

Well, maybe. There was always the possibility that she had made that idiot Doumeki clean it up, but she didn't seem to be _that_ cruel. Usually.

Lying there, he shifted his gaze downwards to look at himself. He was under sheets, so he couldn't exactly see everything, but what he did see was entirely unpleasant.

He was bandaged up everywhere, and he could feel the material sticking to him uncomfortably with the adhesive of drying blood. He thought morosely that it seemed as if he were some sort of morbid present, wrapped in a garment that he was fairly certain wasn't his and tied in a bow of gauze.

Now that he had properly addressed his current situation, he reflected on the moron he _knew_ had carried him all the way to the shop. Also, knowing him, he had made a rash decision to ensure Watanuki's state of living, and that was very bad, because Doumeki didn't make rash decisions often and when he did they were bound to be extremely stupid. Maybe someone who often made rash decisions would know when they were being cheated for their desperation at Yuuko's shop, but Doumeki probably always thought that he was getting a good deal.

Idly, he wondered what he had done to save him this time.

He heard footsteps approaching and awaited his answer patiently.

* * *

I do believe that a dear reviewer named_ flacedice_ very nearly insisted that I write a sequel to number thirty eight. I couldn't resist.

If you're wondering, this could be interpreted as being based off of volume ten, but it isn't necessarily.

And although I left the ending open to another sequel, I warn you, there will not be one at least not from me.

Hehe, sorry, just have to try out new ideas sometime.

However, feel free to write another sequel to it, if you want.

In slightly more bizarre news, I have request that's going to sound entirely mentally unbalanced and egotistical, but I would appreciate greatly it if my request were complied with.

My homework this weekend (I kid you not) was to create a "cult" and convert as many people as possible. Well.

I couldn't come up with an idea very easily, so I created the cult, "Worship Everything That is [Insert Zwip's Real Name Here," and have somehow landed myself in a competition with my friend over attaining members.

To get to the point, anyone want to join up?

It would please me very much!


	39. Just a Bit of Tape

**Fandom:** XXXHOLiC  
**Characters:** Watanuki Kimihiro, Doumeki Shizuka  
**Theme:** 39 –Just a Bit of Tape  
**Warnings/Ratings:** Pervert Doumeki returns from the deep? Abuse of parentheses?  
**In A Nutshell:** Doumeki knew now, after all of this reflection, what Watanuki's single flaw was.**  
Disclaimer:** I don't own Holic.

Doumeki thought that Watanuki was nearly perfect.

He had lovely blue eyes that one could stare into for hours at a time and not become tired of (but Watanuki wouldn't let them stare, he'd wriggle around and scream, wouldn't he?).

His skin was a creamy white that almost sparkled in the sunlight and captivated people (well, almost, he was too busy screeching at anyone whose eyes lingered too long, informing them that he was a human too, just like they _weren't_ and never _would be_ because they thought they transcended humanity when they were really _beneath_ it for being so _condescending_ and _staring at people_ like that).

He had long legs that seemed to stretch on for miles, slender and just _right_ over all, legs that girls were probably secretly jealous of (but if he caught a girl staring at his legs, he'd make a fuss about how she was probably internally criticizing him and then go on to rant about how he never got any Valentine's Day chocolate, though Doumeki had it pretty much figured out that all of the girls were probably too envious of him to actually have any sort of crush on him. Well. More for him).

His hands were probably the most graceful-looking things Doumeki had ever seen, despite the klutzy person they were on. The fingers were thin and deft, the backs of his hands unmarred in any way (Doumeki had, once, stared at his hands during lunch and Watanuki berated him for looking at his lunch like _that_, and though Doumeki didn't know what _that_ was and though he wasn't even staring at the other boy's lunch in the first place, he figured it was probably really bad for his eardrums if he kept on doing it).

His torso was thin and looked so very _comfortable_ that Doumeki just wanted to grab him and snuggle into it (but he didn't really want to think about what would happen to him if he did _that_, and anyone who stared at Watanuki's torso would probably get yelled at as politely as possible for not just telling him where the stupid stain was so he could _clean it up already_).

His hair looked so silky, but of course, that didn't compare to how it actually _felt_ (so maybe he had passed his hands through a few times when he had passed out, it wasn't a big deal, and he knew what would've happened if Watanuki were actually conscious and that would have involved more hearing damage than was necessary so it was his only chance, and he couldn't be blamed for taking advantage of his only chance, could he?).

His lips were _absolutely_, without a doubt, the perfect shade of pink, and they looked so _soft_, so… _irresistible_ (but Doumeki didn't want to even chance staring or he'd be shrieked at for being a "pervert").

Doumeki knew now, after all of this reflection, what Watanuki's single flaw was. Luckily, it was the sort of thing that could be fixed with just a piece of tape… adhered lovingly right over his mouth.

* * *

This was... the third one I wrote for this, I think.

Look at all of the parentheses!

I should be arrested for this.

This is more like how thoughts come to me, though, choppy and nonsensical, and it takes a great amount of time to organize them in any way at all.

I'm actually going to have another update after this! Amazing!


	40. It's Not Stalking

**Fandom:** XXXHOLiC  
**Characters:** Watanuki Kimihiro, Doumeki Shizuka  
**Theme:** 40 –It's Not Stalking  
**Warnings/Ratings:** Pervert Doumeki returns from the deep again. Hehe.  
**In A Nutshell:** Watching out for a friend's back, right?**  
Disclaimer:** I don't own Holic.

It wasn't weird, really, that he got up an hour early to wait by the temple gates for Watanuki. It was just protecting a friend from spirits… and… and… perverts and rapists or something. Safety in numbers. Really.

It was totally normal that he'd watch him very closely out of the corner of his eye pretty much all of the time when he thought he wouldn't be looking. He was just… watching out for him. In case anything decided to, you know. Sneak up or something.

It was very sensible, he thought, to sometimes trail the small boy from place to place at a distance, even if Watanuki didn't know he was there most of the time. He just wanted to be there in case… ghosts and perverts and rapists, right?

And it wasn't so uncommon, he reasoned, for a friend to go to their friend's house with a spare key that may or may not have been procured illegally when that friend may or may not be showering. It wasn't like he'd been disappointed when he found him fully clothed, hair still wet and glistening with the drops of water.

So when Watanuki finally apprehended him and asked him just why the _hell_ he was stalking him, he tried to explain all of this and only got gaped at. And when Watanuki just stomped away, he wasn't staring at his ass, either. Watching out for a friend's back, right?

* * *

Another older story.

Wow, I'm really surprised at how random I get sometimes.

Most of the rest of the stories are already written, I just have to write the ones that are in between old ones.

Hopefully I'll see you soon!

By the way, I've may be getting a job working with a few friends (oh yes, this is going to be fun) on the weekends, so the updates might become even more sparse.

If that's the case, I apologize in advance!


	41. You're Too Obvious

**Fandom:** XXXHOLiC  
**Characters:** Watanuki Kimihiro, Doumeki Shizuka, Kunogi Himawari  
**Theme:** 41 –You're Too Obvious  
**Warnings/Ratings:** …Lack of coherent thought processes?  
**In A Nutshell:** If Doumeki were a normal person, he would be snorting and possibly spewing various liquids out of his nose.**  
Disclaimer:** I don't own Holic.

They were eating lunch alone together for the first and, if Watanuki had any say in it, last time.

He had to go to tutoring with the English teacher, seeing as he had missed too much class and needed to make the work up. He loathed the idea of leaving them alone together, Doumeki was sure, but he couldn't skip the tutoring or he would be in serious trouble when exam time came around.

Very contrary to their usual lunches (and what Watanuki would have thought), it was entirely silent. They had only one thing in common, and that thing was in English tutoring, so they had nothing to do but eat.

"You're too obvious." Her high-pitched voice snapped the silence like a string. He turned to her, the unasked question unapparent on his blank face. "I mean…"

"You do know what I'm talking about, right?" She interrupted the silence once again only moments later. The answering silence was to be perceived as inquisitive, and luckily she understood this. "Well, it's kind of obvious that you, you know." When her hand gestures received no answer, she continued, "That you like him."

"If it's so obvious, then why lower your voice?" He raised an eyebrow, challenging her, and she knew it would come to this.

Sighing inwardly, she pressed on. "Look, if you do, you should just tell him." Still no emotion.

"Why?"

Of course he wouldn't understand. "Because he might like you back and then you can… date or something."

If Doumeki were a normal person, he would be snorting and possibly spewing various liquids out of his nose. Being Doumeki, he only calmly chewed his sushi. Well, it was probably _too_ obvious that Watanuki's feelings towards him were… less than enthusiastic, to say the least.

"If you showed him that you are uninterested in me, maybe he would be more kind?" Still no answer.

Oh, right. If Watanuki became kinder towards Doumeki after the revelation that he didn't like Himawari, then that would probably mean he liked _her_, not him. Although there was still a slim possibility…

"Well, don't worry about him figuring out on his own. He's… not the most perceptive person." Doumeki nodded.

It was silent again.

* * *

Sooo random.

Sorry.

I never really write Himawari in, and that's sad, because I don't hate her at all.

She's so cheery, I don't see how it's possible...

I suppose I always like the characters that people hate (like MisaMisa).

Ahwell.

This is a peace offering for not being able to write much this weekend.

And for writing a chapter story in school instead of working on the themes list. Or my schoolwork, for that matter...

I'll put it up soon, and it's entirely written already.


	42. On the Table

**Fandom:** XXXHOLiC  
**Characters:** Watanuki Kimihiro, Doumeki Shizuka, Ichihara Yuuko  
**Theme:** 42 – On the Table  
**Warnings/Ratings:** Possible typos.  
**In A Nutshell:** But what was Watanuki if not irony in its purest form?**  
Disclaimer:** I don't own Holic.

Books were strewn across the small table, abandoned in fatigue; vacant plates once containing snack foods were lying desolately next to them. The apartment was entirely silent, and Doumeki was watching.

As Watanuki's bouts of narcolepsy grew increasingly frequent, he had felt the need to be around the generally plagued boy more often, as some sort of protection against the terrible things that could happen if he were to fall asleep in public alone.

Too many instances of Watanuki's falling asleep even when he _had _been around had worried him into drastic measures. On a single mission from Yuuko last week, he had fallen asleep twice, the first being as they were walking down the street to the bus stop, and the second being on the not-quite-right, garishly yellow bus filled with all manner of many-eyed entities with razor-sharp teeth and lingering leers. Watanuki didn't believe that he woke up sitting in Doumeki's lap because there honestly were not enough seats on the bus.

Now he had a reason to follow the boy around other than being a general life-form (and non-life-form) repellant. He would follow him to work, leave him there with the assured safety that was Yuuko, go home and do Doumeki things (like chores and archery and sometimes homework), then come back to the shop when Yuuko clandestinely called him, usually around 19h or so. From there he would walk Watanuki home and invite himself in for dinner and possibly the finishing of homework, always being punctually thrown out at 21h30.

He found this new schedule quite pleasing, not only because there was so much Watanuki in it, but also because he got to carry the aforementioned Watanuki around when he was in an unconscious state more often, which was nothing to scoff at (as if Doumeki would scoff in the first place).

This particular evening, they had been doing homework and snacking when Watanuki suddenly slumped over onto his papers. After checking his pulse and being assured that he was alive, he gently laid him down on the floor, seeing as sleeping hunched over would result in a stiff neck. Watanuki was sleeping on the floor and Doumeki was watching him.

Doumeki deduced that he must actually be sleeping. When he slipped into unconsciousness suddenly during the day, he was silent and still as the dead, but this actual sleep was much more restless, full of the murmuring of half-formed words and thrashing about violently, and this somehow seemed ironic. But what was Watanuki if not irony in its purest form?

He wondered if the spirits followed him even to that lucid, seemingly impermeable dream world, and found he wouldn't be surprised if they did. He knew that in his dreams there may not be someone there to save him. But reality… reality was an entirely different thing, wasn't it?

The books were in disarray on the table, and Doumeki was slumped over them, a shimmering strand of sleep having ensnared him at last. The apartment was silent save for the soft sound of breathing, both occupants held securely in the gossamer web of some dream. Yes, they were dreaming, and Yuuko was watching.

* * *

There was a great deal of internal deliberation on that last sentence, I'll have you know.

In fact, this entire theme was a nightmare. Oh, mind not the unintentional pun.

Didn't get the job. Ahwell. That just leaves time to waste time.

Until next time (most likely tomorrow, when I will post the next theme).


	43. Under the Bed

**Fandom:** XXXHOLiC  
**Characters:** Watanuki Kimihiro, Doumeki Shizuka  
**Theme:** 43 – Under the Bed  
**Warnings/Ratings:** There is a bit of conversation in here copied verbatim from a conversation with a friend of mine. Yes, that means you should be very worried.  
**In A Nutshell:** "What," Watanuki began, raising what he'd uncovered to the other boy's face, awed but not angry (yet), "is this?"**  
Disclaimer:** I don't own Holic.

Seeing as Watanuki was running out of things to offer in exchange for his life being saved (he was already cooking breakfast, lunch, and dinner for the big oaf, as well as snacks _whenever he wanted_, which had meant running over in _torrential_ rain a few times and ARGH LIFE WAS SO UNFAIR) he was currently at Doumeki's place and cleaning his room. He supposed (hoped) that it would be hard to run out of rooms, seeing as the place was _gargantuan_.

Still, it was pretty bad giving up his Sunday afternoon to clean Doumeki's room. _It could be worse_, he reminded himself whilst dusting the bookshelf,_ I could be in a maid's outfit_. He shuddered. _Those words will never leave my head_. He winced as he thought about it, finishing the bookshelf and proceeding to vacuum the floor.

The worst part about it, he found, was that Doumeki was _watching him_. It was so _creepy_. He passed the vacuum over the majority of the floor, then turned it off and dragged it over to where the futon was.

Doumeki was one of those people who left their futon out because they had an abundance of space as well as an abundance of laziness. Watanuki had already taken the sheets off and left them in a nice pile somewhere to be washed; now he just had to roll up the thing and shove it someplace while he vacuumed where it had been.

Just as he was about to commence rolling it up, he heard a voice behind him inquire, "What are you doing?"

He turned, irritated, to see Doumeki standing there, his face devoid of expression, as usual. He huffed in a way that he hoped was derogatory (it wasn't, and it would never be, but he wouldn't give up that hope) and shot back with just about as much venom he could muster up, "What do you _think_ I'm doing? Oh, wait, of course you wouldn't know, you've obviously never cleaned a single day in your life." It hadn't come out sounding as poisonous as he would've liked, but there wasn't much he could do about it; it had been a long day and he was tired from cleaning, drawing ever closer to a line he would have to cross where one side meant apathy and the other meant sheer hysteria.

Of course, the statement about Doumeki never cleaning was probably true. His room had been a _disaster zone_, which Watanuki hadn't really anticipated. He seemed like the sort to keep things clean, if only so they were functional, but there were things thrown all over the floor to the point where he couldn't even walk in a straight line to the futon. Yes, it had been a _very_ long day.

Doumeki shrugged at his not-insulting insult, and repeated, "Really, though, what are you doing?" Was he looking… nervous? Watanuki mentally shook his head; a nervous Doumeki was an impossibility, as it would interrupt the laws of the universe and send the earth careening out of orbit into the blackness of space.

"I'm rolling up your futon so I can vacuum under it." He rolled his eyes and turned back to his work. That is, until a hand on his shoulder stopped him.

"You don't have to do that." Did his voice sound just a tiny bit tinted with some sort of emotion?

Chalking it up to his imagination, he retorted, "Doumeki, you twit, stop it." He batted off the hand and continued to roll up the futon. Before Doumeki could stop him again, he discovered what it was he was not supposed to find, and he could feel the archer stiffen up behind him as tension came off of him in huge, intimidating waves. Any other time he would have been absolutely amazed that the stoic boy had expressed emotion, but he was too shocked to even register it.

The silence couldn't last forever. "What," Watanuki began, raising what he'd uncovered to the other boy's face, awed but not angry (yet), "is this?"

Doumeki cleared his throat, trying to buy time. "It's… uh… a magazine." It was the first time he'd heard him stumble on his words but this was lost on him due to what he was holding between his thumb and index finger.

"Would you mind explaining _why_ you have a magazine like _this_?" Watanuki's voice floated up to him.

"Uh…" He was waiting until the inevitable explosion would come so he wouldn't have to say anything.

Finally, after what seemed to be an eternity of an awkward moment… "It's… it's… IT'S NOT RIGHT!"He jammed his fingers into his ears. "YOU ARE A TEMPLE KID._" The temple kid stereotype, eh?_ Doumeki thought absently. Watanuki just continued. "YOU GREW UP IN A TEMPLE. THIS IS A PLACE COMMONLY CONSTRUED AS A HAVEN OF _PURITY_. OH MY GOD! YOU WERE KEEPING SOMETHING LIKE _THIS_," here he waved the offending material for emphasis, "IN HERE! A TEMPLE, OF ALL PLACES! OH MY _GOD_!" Doumeki would have told him to shut up if it weren't so damn _entertaining_. Personal embarrassment ebbing away, he was now relaxed enough to fully enjoy the panicked yelling. "YOU'VE SULLIED MY PURITY!"

He had to do it. Watanuki was just _asking_ for it. "Isn't purity only supposed to be ruined through sex...?" He prided himself on successfully throwing out this sentence with no emotion, because on the inside he was pissing his pants laughing.

He watched as the smaller boy's eyes grew wide (direct hit! Instant K.O!.). Then, of course, he was hit with the thought that maybe he should defend himself. "MENTAL PURITY. YOU'VE DEFILED MY MENTAL PURITY." He then shot a dirty look towards the taller boy as a sort of afterthought.

They lapsed into silence for a few moment. Then Doumeki smirked; Watanuki had totally walked into this, after all. He stepped closer to the loud boy, who stood up and backed away, perhaps to avoid being touched and therefore contracting pervert-itis. How foolish of him, doing exactly what he had been expected to do. All too easily, he had been backed into a corner, where he was forced to stop, dropping the magazine he was unaware he'd still been holding.

Doumeki leaned in closer. "Well, since I've already taken away your _mental_ purity…"

Needless to say, the area under the futon remained un-vacuumed.

* * *

I honestly have no idea what was wrong with me when I wrote this. 

Something very, very important, obviously...

This was written some time ago, as the majority of the rest will have been. I only have three left to write, isn't that sad?

Happy 104 day, everyone!

Edit: Thanks to FLACEDICE for correcting a mistake of mine.

Fear it not!

Seriously, if you spot an error, point it out.

Most of these are written and posted at 1h or later, so there are bound to be many of them.


	44. Teaspoon

**Fandom:** XXXHOLiC  
**Characters:** Watanuki Kimihiro, Doumeki Shizuka, Ichihara Yuuko  
**Theme:** 44 – Teaspoon  
**Warnings/Ratings:** The world's most impressive run-on sentence.  
**In A Nutshell:** **  
Disclaimer:** I don't own Holic.

"Please go away." He didn't, he hadn't, he never did and never would, but despite how futile it was he couldn't help _trying_.

Doumeki, perched perilously on the countertop of Watanuki's cramped kitchen, said nothing as usual, only adding power to the burning inferno of the displeased chef's rage.

"OKAY! I CAN'T COOK WITH YOU _WATCHING_ LIKE THAT!" Yet he was indeed cooking, or at least attempting it, pouring vanilla into a teaspoon and trying not to spill as he flailed. "LOOK, YOU CAN STAY OVER THERE OR SOMETHING," he gestured in a vague direction, "JUST GET OUT OF HERE."

Instead of leaving, he grabbed one of Watanuki's ever-flailing arms and used it to shove the teaspoon into his mouth. The smaller boy gaped.

"YOU DID NOT."

"I do believe I did." He grimaced.

"…WELL, HOW DID IT TASTE, HM? I HOPE YOU _ENJOYED_ IT. NOW YOU KNOW NOT TO EAT RAW INGREDIENTS LIKE THAT WHEN I'M _COOKING DAMN IT._"

"I've tasted worse."

"When you tried to cook for yourself, I'm sure." Suddenly and disturbingly, Doumeki was much. Too. Close.

Then he was much, much too close, searching for something (an eyelash, maybe?) in Watanuki's eyes and he must have found it because he was moving and now he was really much, much, much too close because they were inexplicably kissing and it wasn't too terrible except Watanuki could swear he was smothering and suffocating and all other sorts of awful words expressing asphyxiation.

"Like that." Doumeki said finally, pulling away smoldering and smirking.

"…Huh?"

"That tasted much worse."

"The look on your face says otherwise." Pleased to finally out-retort Doumeki for once but still a bit perturbed at the theft of his kiss virginity, he turned back to his preparations.

When the cookies turned out tasting a little funny, Doumeki, in retribution, graciously reminded him that he'd forgotten the vanilla.

* * *

I take so long to update and my humble offering is this.

Well, I suppose I could post the next one up, as well...


	45. Embossed

**Fandom:** XXXHOLiC  
**Characters:** Watanuki Kimihiro, Doumeki Shizuka, Ichihara Yuuko  
**Theme:** 45 – Embossed  
**Warnings/Ratings:** A hopefully well-explained bit of OOC.  
**In A Nutshell:** Almost like it was hitsuzen.**  
Disclaimer:** I don't own Holic.

It had been an average day; an average, normal day, and he hated it, hated it so much that he could no longer stand the idea of going home and it was almost like his feet had brought him there of their own accord.

Almost like it was hitsuzen.

But it was only almost, and he stepped forward of his own will.

The two girls stepped out of the shop, still singing and dancing, echoing one another, and yet they seemed more subdued now. They merely led him in, somehow sensing that it would not matter whether they pulled or not.

"I knew you would be back someday." The voice glided over to him on the sickly sweet air, but it was too silky, too smooth, and he found himself wanting to run away, run far away and never think about it again.

But he couldn't; that was why he was here in the first place.

"It's been a long time." His voice was steadier than he had thought it would be.

"Indeed it has." Upon hearing those three words, he pressed on again until he had found what he was looking for, what he had always been looking for.

There was no alcohol, nor was there a pipe dangling from pale fingers, but the air, the power, it still seemed the same, and he didn't like that at all.

Sitting still had never suited Watanuki, and this lounging around looked even worse on him, although Doumeki was willing to admit that there were some changes that looked considerably better.

The kimono was loose and tight at the same time in a true Yuuko fashion. In fact, he would have thought it had been hers at some point in time if it weren't blue, and although it looked stunning on him, it didn't _suit_ him at all. What suited him were the rigid uniforms they had worn so long ago.

"A business suit does not fit your personality, Shizuka." Oh, he had at one point longed so badly to hear that name drop out of those lips, but it wasn't his name when he said it like _that_. He was Doumeki, no, he was _DOUUUUMEEEEEKIIIIIII_ and he wasn't Shizuka, not like this.

"I could say the same of your attire. Didn't you attempt to make fun of me for wearing kimono?" At least he was still a hypocrite.

"Ah, but Shizuka," he said, grinning, and it was all wrong, so, so wrong, "time changes and so do people." Half-lidded eyes watched him as he seated himself on the floor.

There had been so many questions and they had all dissipated at that lazy grin.

"It seems you've really grown up." Who was Watanuki to condescend him like that?

Maybe it was retribution for all of the epic explosions he had provoked him into so long ago. Would it even be possible to agitate him anymore?

"It seems as if you have regressed."

It wasn't even worth the try, as all he received for his effort was another smile and a, "Now, let's have none of that."

There was never any "let's" before, and there should not, by any means, be a "let's" now, but there it was, flaunting its presence cheerfully, the smug little bastard.

"You know why you're here, don't you?" Suddenly everything had become serious, but serious was even more wrong than that horrible cheer had been.

"Hn." There were a lot of reasons he could be here. "You wouldn't be much of a Space-Time Witch if you didn't know as well."

His face fell to annoyance in a quick flash and then returned to looking grave, but Doumeki hadn't missed it. In fact, he was relishing it.

"I wouldn't be much of a wish granter if I didn't," he agreed, moving closer to the ex-archer in a slithery fashion and reminding him of the story of Eve and the snake and all of that damned _temptation_.

"There are so many things you want though, aren't there?" He was moving in closer, now less like a snake and more like a vulture.

In his clutches, right? It struck Doumeki very hard that he had probably_ always _been in his clutches, but not in _this_ way.

"Which is it that you want the most?"

He shrugged his shoulders as if he didn't know.

"For someone so seemingly successful, you have so many regrets."

"Success isn't everything."

Watanuki gave a chortle that made him grimace. "There are many entities that would be willing to disagree with you on that subject, but we are not here to discuss them; we're here to discuss your wish."

He chose his next words carefully. "Even if there is something I'm unable to attain alone, this is the last place I'd come looking for it. I know what happens to those who make transactions within this shop."

This comment somehow backfired on him, because now Watanuki was leering at him, not the cat who had caught the canary but the lion who had killed all of the prey for miles around and wouldn't let you eat until you were _begging_ for it.

"So you're saying that your coming here means you've exhausted all other options?" The broad grin expanded until Doumeki was positive it would swallow him whole, and he thought on what to say for a good, long while before speaking.

"Regardless of that issue, I'm still not planning on making any wishes this evening." He felt as if he were being consumed by those shiny, white teeth.

"Oh? Then at least tell me what it is you can't find?"

He merely stared ahead in a fashion that he hoped was entirely blank.

"A wife, perhaps? Three good meals a day and your own little Shizukas running around? True love?" He smirked. "That's a popular one these days."

"A wife would be all too easy to obtain." When silence and those painfully blue eyes urged him to continue, he remarked, "Love isn't that difficult, either." Watanuki raised his eyebrows and Doumeki said nothing more, as continuing would give too much away.

Even if he didn't say it, he probably knew already.

"What could stoic Shizuka want more than happiness itself, I wonder?"

Maybe Yuuko had given him lessons on how to be utterly annoying. He was obviously a fast learn-

Before he could finish fleshing out that though, he had been pushed to his back and a pair of lips was crushing his own.

"It couldn't be _me_, could it?"

Doumeki couldn't even open his eyes, much less formulate a response.

…

Half-asleep on the uncomfortably soft sheets of his bed, Watanuki said, "That wasn't something to wish for, you know." Doumeki looked over at him, lazily inquisitive. "Wishes are for the impossible."

Even as a lie, it was a comforting thing to think of as he drifted to sleep.

…

Watanuki had probably slipped it into his pocket while he wasn't looking; pondering how he had done so was a waste of time when it was taken into consideration that even Watanuki himself probably only knew half of the powers he possessed.

The _why_ was infinitely more important. He would have liked to hope it meant what he wished it did, a scene in a kitchen twenty years away with one crotchety, middle-aged man yelling at another for eating the food that was so bad for his cholesterol. Knowing Watanuki, it didn't, but he liked to think that way. It was most likely that he'd never see him again at all, but he liked to think that way.

Tucking the embossed piece of paper with the elegant print into his pocket lovingly, he thought that it was so very like Watanuki to make business cards for a shop that most people would not be entering more than twice.

At least some things never changed.

* * *

I wrote this a bit ago, because Watanuki-as-shop-inheritor is an obligatory story subject in Holic fandom.

Happy endings are altogether unsettling, and happy endings as a result of Yuuko's shop are even more unsettling.

So I simply couldn't write one.

Hurt me, if you so wish.

Two left to write, five left to post. Wow.

See you soon, then!


	46. Another Bottle

**Fandom:** XXXHOLiC  
**Characters:** Doumeki Shizuka, Ichihara Yuuko  
**Theme:** 46 – Another Bottle  
**Warnings/Ratings:** Drunk!Yuuko.  
**In A Nutshell:** Oh, he knew that much and he knew it well. **  
Disclaimer:** I don't own Holic."

Ah, Doumeki-kun. I'm so pleased you've come." He didn't really know why he had; intuition, perhaps.

She set out a glass in front of him, one that had seemingly been drawn of thin air. He wouldn't be surprised if it had. She was, after all, Yuuko, and Yuuko had her ways.

"What is it you desire of me?" He had every right to be suspicious; if Yuuko was pleased to see him then there was something pricey she was expecting of him.

"Only time, Doumeki-kun." This comment from any other person would mean they only wished to spend time with him. From Yuuko, however, one could never be sure. The only thing he could (would) trust her for was keeping Watanuki alive, and he was sometimes terrifyingly unsure of even that.

"I've wanted to talk to you on a subject of great importance for some time now and have finally found the opportunity to do so." She poured some of the cheap red wine into his glass and a considerably more generous amount of it into her own.

"You see, long ago, I had the same job you once had." When had he been employed? "The job was, of course, living simply and simply living. However," she took a large swig of the pungent substance, nearly emptying her glass, "things have changed for me, as they have changed for you.

"Long ago, not the same long ago as the last, you see, but a different one entirely, I became Ichihara Yuuko, the proprietor of the shop that grants wishes, and the Dimensional Witch all at once, and this thrust upon me a new occupation entirely." The blood-red liquid sloshed around her wine glass as if irritated as she refilled it.

"You see, my new job was not to simply live and live simply, but to help others live and live extravagantly." With all due respect to Yuuko, he was sure that the living extravagantly part was more of a choice. She grinned drunkenly and leaned in uncomfortably close, the putrid scent of alcohol emitting from her like some rank aura.

"This is also your job now, Doumeki-kun. It is a good one with a lofty goal, challenging and rarely rewarded with more than the knowledge of a saved soul." Oh, he knew that much and he knew it well. "However, I do implore of you one thing." She poured herself more wine and sipped at it sloppily.

The silence lasted a long time before she spoke again.

"Whatever way you choose to live, live without regret. Because for all of our similarities," another messy sip, "I really would not want you to be like me entirely."

And in a way that was beginning to happen chillingly often, he found he agreed with her entirely.

* * *

Hn. I think this is a concept I nearly already previously explored, but oh well. 

Spoiler for Tsubasa 169, don't want the spoiler don't read the following few sentences (encased within the ellipses), but I do have a quick comment.

...Fai's right eye turned gold. Remind you of anyone?  
I literally pointed at my computer's screen and blubbered for a few moments afterwards...

Hope to see you soon.


	47. I Believe In

**Fandom:** XXXHOLiC  
**Characters:** Doumeki Shizuka, Watanuki Kimihiro  
**Theme:** 47 – I Believe In...  
**Warnings/Ratings:** .Utter strangeness.  
**In A Nutshell:** "Did you think you were going to die down there?" **  
Disclaimer:** I don't own Holic.

He was sinking. Well, maybe not; maybe he was being dragged down. It didn't matter, though, because either way would end badly for him, one ending being a demise due to drowning and the other being death by being devoured. He wasn't _too_ disappointed, he thought as he opened his mouth to let the sickly sweet substance invade his lungs. It was just that he had really believed-

A hand yanked the collar of his shirt up and this, he thought morosely, added a new death possibility: strangulation. That was, until the hand seemed to realize this threat and decided instead to use his shoulder as a handle and continued to pull him up, away from the murky abyss and the _thing_ that might have been down there and up to more darkness. However, this time it was darkness accompanied by _air_, air that he was now gulping in greedily as he collapsed into something that felt very _solid_.

…

"Did you think you were going to die down there?" He looked up at the source of this interrogation and was unsurprised to find it looking down at him.

"Not really," he said, this statement being mostly true.

"Why not?" The voice was so devoid of emotion that it almost seemed like a statement.

He smiled up at his constant savior. "Because I believe."

* * *

This was the first story I wrote for these themes, and it seems ironic that is going to be followed by the last story I will write for these themes. 

See you soon!


	48. Dragons

**Fandom:** XXXHOLiC  
**Characters:** Watanuki Kimihiro, Doumeki Shizuka, Ichihara Yuuko  
**Theme:** 48 - Dragons  
**Warnings/Ratings:** A noticeable lack of dragons.  
**In A Nutshell:** Naturally, the answer to a drastic problem was a drastic solution.**  
Disclaimer:** I don't own Holic.

Watanuki was feeling terribly unsatisfied with his life. This was a bad thing, considering how much he had left of it to live and the fact that nobody would let him off himself thanks to his enormous debt to him that he would be spending the rest of his unsatisfactory life paying off. Suicide was much too drastic for such a thing, anyway.

The relentless attacks on him from all fronts (social, scholastic, spiritual) and backs (Doumeki, Yuuko, even Himawari-chan) were wearing on him and he wasn't sure of what to do about it. Naturally, the answer to a drastic problem was a drastic solution.

…Well, a semi-drastic solution.

He planned many weeks in advance, coordinating everything from his calendars so as to not miss anything too terribly important, and when the day finally came after weeks of breathless anticipation, Watanuki did what he had never been able to afford to do before.

Watanuki skipped school to stay home.

…

Many people did it very often, and maybe it wouldn't help a great deal with the lack of satisfaction, but something about it felt dangerous and helpful at the same time.

When morning came that blessed day, Watanuki took joy in blatantly ignoring his alarm clock and then just turning it off. He rolled over, pulled the sheets over his head, and sank back into merciful sleep.

Around midday, the landlady came to check on him.

"Are you ill?" Her worried voice drifted through the thin wood of his door.

"I'll be fine, please, don't worry about me." He rasped a little for authenticity.

"…If you say so. However, if you need anything, please don't hesitate to ask."

"Thank you." With the shuffling of tiny feet, she was gone and he free to sleep once again. He did feel horribly guilty for deceiving the woman, but it _was_ his day off, after all.

Ten minutes after he would have gotten out of school, Yuuko called.

"Watanuuuuuki?!? WHERE ARE YOU?!"

"I'm not feeling well today, Yuuko-san. I'm afraid I'll be missing work."

"WHAT? NO!" Screaming, seemingly from the twins, sounded in the background.

"Watanuki, I need you here!" More screaming. "The twins just-" the screeching was so loud that Yuuko was yelling into the phone to make herself heard and he had to hold it nearly a foot away from his head to avoid being deafened. Consequentially, what was spewing from the device sounded like nothing more than garbled rubbish. When things sounded to have returned to normal, he cautiously brought the receiver back to his head, only to hear, "and so now there are these _dragons_ everywhere and I can't do a damned thing about them!"

Upon hearing this, Watanuki was decidedly very uninterested.

"Yuuko-san, if you can't do anything about them, then how am I supposed to?" Before she could supply him with another unfavorable answer, he added, "And I am really very ill today. My apologies." He hung up the phone and pulled the cord from the wall for good measure.

He decided then that it would be detrimental to his health to sleep any longer and dragged his unresponsive body out of the bed. It was as his feet hit the floor with a dull thud that he realized he had no idea of what to do.

He wasn't going to Yuuko's, he didn't have to cook for anyone but himself, and he would be collecting his work from school the next day. Faced with the terror of idleness, he decided upon tidying his already scrupulously clean apartment.

Just as he was reorganizing his bookshelf, there was an obnoxious knock on his door. Opening it, he saw who had knocked and nearly slammed it closed again.

"Oi."

Gritting his teeth, he managed to grind out, "Your timing is…"

"Impeccable?"

Shooting him a scalding glare, he spat, "Terrible."

"Kunogi collected your work for you, but she was busy with-" Of course, by this time the effort of speaking was useless, as Watanuki was twirling around the room in bliss. Luckily, this enabled him to manoeuvre himself to a chair and sit down by the time the fool had finished.

"Wait. How did you-"

"You didn't miss much."

"I didn't ask," he spat irately.

"You never have to."

Watanuki made a noise that sounded suspiciously like, "hmph," as Doumeki handed over the work he'd missed.

"If you need any help, just ask." A futile statement.

"Hm." A worthless response.

It wasn't until he noticed that Watanuki had been staring at the same problem for twenty minutes that the fool finally accepted his help, grudgingly.

At the end of the evening Doumeki left, no questions asked about the mysterious illness and no verbal gratitude for the help he'd given.

That was okay, the bento did just fine.

* * *

This marks the completion of Compendium in writing. 


	49. Good Men

**Fandom:** XXXHOLiC  
**Characters:** Doumeki Shizuka  
**Theme:** 49 – Good Men  
**Warnings/Ratings:** Melancholy  
**In A Nutshell:** The memories, too, would fade someday, and he feared that most.**  
Disclaimer:** I don't own Holic.

Nights like these when the darkness is shallow and there's nothing intangible on the wind make it almost easy to believe that none of it happened.

It's not that he can't sleep; he doesn't want to. If he dreams he can't remember them and that ultimately seems to be a waste.

When the work isn't enough to occupy him, his mind wanders and he becomes temperamental, sentimental, every kind of mental and the ache of emptiness returns like a faithful, old companion.

It almost doesn't hurt anymore.

He used to have photographs, faded and torn but _there_. One day they disappeared, a note left in their wake that read, "It's time to let go," in painfully elegant handwriting.

He did not want to let go.

A few days later he found them, looking just as they had the day he had gotten them, laying in the empty lot he was still walking by every day after all of this time.

They still smelled like him.

He thanked whatever benevolent, alcoholic god for giving him what he needed.

They lay safely in a in a hollowed out tome among the other books most of the time.

That is, unless he needed to feel their reality, their presence; the now-gray, once-green material thinning as his hair was; the fabric so fragile under his fingers.

After all of this, they still smelled like him.

This time, though, he had made a terrible mistake, because now they, too were gone, whisked away by the angelic tormentor that he was still seeking.

All he had were the memories now.

He missed everything; the time when life itself was a fairytale, filled with the frightening and the wondrous; good men and damsels in distress.

It was hard to believe that he had been a hero once.

The memories, too, would fade someday, and he feared that most.

But maybe he'd see that same, small flash of blue like he did sometimes in a dream or on one of his long, lonely walks.

That would make everything okay.

That would make everything okay until he could be there again.

* * *

I don't know why, but this is one of my favorites... 

I'd like to note that when this is finished, you might not see me in fandom often.

I'm pursuing original fiction, therefore you may find me on Fictionpress under the same name I have here.


	50. And Other Fairytale Creatures

**Fandom:** XXXHOLiC  
**Characters:** Watanuki Kimihiro, Doumeki Shizuka, Ichihara Yuuko, Maru & Moro, Mokona  
**Theme:** 50 – And Other Fairytale Creatures  
**Warnings/Ratings:** Sort of cracky.  
**In A Nutshell:** "Sooooo!" Yuuko continued, "Who are you saving that first kiss for?"**  
Disclaimer:** I don't own Holic.

He wasn't _really_ a fairy tale creature, although people like him were rare in society. What made him so close to one was that he was actually from a fairy tale. Or so it seemed.

He'd been telling Yuuko about his predicament as Watanuki eavesdropped listened in. Apparently, a friend of his had just sort of passed out after eating some of an apple and now he needed to find a way to wake her up or something, because the normal shaking and yelling treatment just wasn't working.

"I can help you… for a price." She smiled her sly little smile and he thrust something like a pickaxe towards her. She immediately turned grave. "I see. Watanuki, take this to the storeroom." He scurried up to her, taking the pickaxe to the storeroom as fast as he could so as to not miss any of the conversation.

Too late. Yuuko was already explaining something of a totally unrelated topic, which she concluded with the statement, "Ah, young love!" She giggled and turned to a now-suspicious Watanuki. "Waaaaa-taaaa-nuuu-kiiiii!" She clapped her hands together and what had been only moments before a faint possibility of involvement had solidified into pure _trouble_. "I need you to accompany this fine gentleman to his world, where you will kiss an unconscious maiden and restore her ability to live!"

"I assume that you would dock the cost of transporting me there and back from my pay," he said dryly.

"Naturally!" She said, like a proud kindergarten teacher. "I'd also dock from your pay-"

"Right, if I weren't to go at all. I know. I think I'll pass on this." He walked away and Yuuko just giggled madly, turning back to her customer to discuss an alternative plan involving a prince. Not soon enough, the customer was leaving. Unfortunately, that left him with Yuuko, who had entered the kitchen with the sole purpose of harassing him as he cooked her dinner.

"Sooooo! Why'd-"

"Snow White, right?" He cut her off, hoping to delay her probing and agitating line of questioning.

"How rude!" He thought she was referring to interrupting until she continued, "She has a name, you know!" That same sly grin snuck back and spread itself sinisterly over her features.

"A name that it would cost me to learn. Yeah, I'm not interested." He poked at the rice a little with his spoon; something seemed wrong about it.

"Sooooo!" Yuuko continued, "Who are you saving that first kiss for?"

"I haven't got anyone in mind yet, I just don't want it to be some random girl so many worlds away that I'll only ever see once, anyway." He shrugged, an attempt at nonchalance that Yuuko couldn't help but think failed completely.

Acting on a hunch she yelled out, "IT'S FOR DOUMEKI-KUN, RIGHT?"

Watanuki paled visibly, turning to her and yelling back, "YOU KNOW _DAMN WELL_ IT'S NOT!"

Maru and Moro waltzed into the room, chanting, "IT'S FOR DOUMEKI-KUN, IT'S FOR DOUMEKI-KUN, IT'S _ALL_ FOR DOUMEKI-KUN!"

Mokona jumped out of the rice cooker, covered entirely in the sticky food and joining in the Happy-Make-Fun-of-Watanuki-Time activities, adding insult to it all by getting rice everywhere he bounced. _This_, Watanuki thought miserably,_ is certainly the most direct definition of pandemonium_.

Before he could even stop being overwhelmed long enough to start yelling, Doumeki walked in.

"Doumeki-kun! I'm so glad you came! When I called earlier I didn't think you would! But now you're here! Yay!" He acknowledged her presence with a look that was so lacking in enthusiasm it could _deflate balloons_.

"What's for me, now?" He asked, watching all of the insanity and looking, Watanuki couldn't help noting, much too calm for all of this. As Yuuko started telling him all sorts of crazy things, Watanuki contemplated taking the food out of the oven and putting himself in it. At least it would be cozy.

* * *

Good night, good night! parting is such  
sweet sorrow,  
That I shall say good night 'till it be morrow. 


End file.
